Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? - 8

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Table of Contents

Insert

Title Page

The Ogre’s Wail

1 I’m Weak

O1 The Ogre’s Origin

2 I’m a Shut

Interlude A Certain Adventurer’s Ogre Hunt

O2 The Ogre’s Magic Swords

R1 The Old Man in Mourning

3 I’m Stuffed

V1 A Chance Encounter

with a Nemesis

R2 The Old Man Fights an Ogre

O3 The Ogre Pursued

Interlude The Pontiff and the Shadow Agents

Interlude A Certain Adventurer’s Next Steps

4 I’m Hitting the Road

Interlude Teacher

The Ogre Worn Down

5 I’m Mountain Climbing

O5 The Ogre and the Ice Dragon

6 I’m Lost

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Interlude The Notes of Buirimus the Summoner

Interlude The Demon Lord and the Ice Dragon

7 I’m in a Bind

V2 A New N

emesis

The Ogre’s Roar

Afterword

Yen Newsletter

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So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 8

ina Baba

Translation by Jenny McKeon

Cover art by Tsukasa Kiryu

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and

incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used

fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or per

sons,

living or dead, is coincidental.

KUMO DESUGA, NANIKA? Vol. 8

©Okina Baba, Tsukasa Kiryu 2018

First published in Japan in 2018 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION,

Tokyo.

English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION,

Tokyo through TUTTLE

MORI AGE

NCY, INC., Tokyo.

Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of

artists to produce the creative works that enrich our cultu

re.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without

permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you

would like permission to use material from the book (other than for

review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank

you for your

support of the author’s rights.

Yen On

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Library of Congress Cataloging

Publication Data

Names: Baba, Okina

, author. | Kiryu, Tsukasa, illustrator. | McKeon,

Jenny, translator.

Title: So I’m a spider, so what? / Okina Baba ; illustration by Tsukasa

Kiryu ; translation by Jenny McKeon.

Other titles: Kumo desuga nanika. English | So I am a spider, so

what?

Descri

ption: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2017

–

Identifiers: LCCN 2017034911 | ISBN 9780316412896 (v. 1 : pbk.) |

ISBN 9780316442886 (v. 2 : pbk.) | ISBN 9780316442909 (v. 3 : pbk.)

| ISBN 9780316442916 (v. 4 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975301941 (v. 5

pbk.) | ISBN 9781975301965 (v. 6 : pbk.) | ISBN 9781975301996 (v. 7

: pbk.) | ISBN 9781975398996 (v. 8 : pbk.)

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Subjects: CYAC: Magic

—

Fiction. | Spiders

—

Fiction. | Monsters

—

Fiction. |

Prisons

—

Fiction. | Escapes

—

Fiction. | Fantasy.

Classification: LCC PZ7.

1.O44 So 2017 | DDC [Fic]

—

dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017034911

ISBNs: 978

9753

9899

6 (paperback)

978

9753

0955

8 (ebook)

20200304

ORI

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“U…urgh…aaagh…”

The cry echoed in the

quiet night.

Other animals fell silent at once, as if out of fear of whatever was

producing the noise.

In the absence of all other sound, what filled the air instead was a

thick stench of blood.

Even the wind dared not blow where that dreadful smell linger

ed,

leaving the place heavy with the presence of death.

The remains scattered across the ground could be identified only by

the one who had unleashed the wail.

The moon hid itself behind thick clouds, as if to say it could not bear

to look upon such a trag

edy.

Sounds of biting and chewing mingled with intermittent growls.

As is nature’s way, the victor fed upon the flesh of the vanquished.

However, the victor’s skin was raised with goose bumps, and not

because of the cold.

“It’s okay. I’m still fine.”

In a

trembling voice unbefitting someone who had triumphed, the

victor repeated these words, almost desperately hoping they were

true.

“I haven’t lost my mind yet!”

This declaration went unheard, disappearing into the dark and lonely

night.

Page |

’

WEAK

Blue sky. White clouds.

It’s a little chilly, but that’s no big dea

l thanks to the sunlight.

Ideal weather, really.

The perfect day for a picnic!

“Hff…hff…”

However, reality isn’t quite so kind.

The sunlight might be a blessing to any normal person, but for us, it’s

nothing more than an annoyance.

And one of us is practic

ally at death’s door already.

Namely me.

“Is your friend there all right?”

A soldier looks at me with concern.

But I don’t even have the energy to respond.

“It’s fine. She’s always like this.”

“She doesn’t seem fine to me…”

At the Demon Lord’s words, the s

oldier looks even more concerned,

and he starts to approach.

“What I mean is, she’s

not

fine, so can you hurry up and let us in,

please? She needs rest, as you can obviously see.”

“Ah, right. Hmm… All right, go ahead. Stay safe.”

Page |

The Demon Lord pays the ap

propriate toll for all of us, allowing us to

pass through the gates and head into the town.

I’m still in the carriage Mera is driving when we enter.

We’re currently in a borderland near the Renxandt Empire.

This is a northwestern town, not too far from the

demon territory.

The Renxandt Empire is a human realm that borders the demon

lands, making it the front lines of the war between humans and

demons.

In other words, since we’re trying to reach said demon territory,

getting here means our goal is finally wi

thin sight.

Of course, we’re not planning on just waltzing through the border

where the humans and demons are having their little face

off, of

course.

To the northwest of the Renxandt Empire is a steep mountain range

called the Mystic Mountains.

It separat

es the human and demon territories, so if we cross over

that, we’ll arrive in the demon realm.

However, as its name suggests, it’s incredibly difficult to cross the

Mystic Mountains.

It’s already hard enough to survive at such high elevation, but the

place

also happens to be crawling with monsters who thrive in that

brutal environment.

The mountain range is covered in snow and ice, and the high altitude

means there’s low atmospheric pressure and thin air.

Throw in some monsters that are built to withstand a

ll that and,

yeah, most hopeful climbers would probably die trying.

But that’s only if we’re talking about any old average Joe.

Page |

We’ve got an all

star group led by the literal Demon Lord, so no way

some stupid mountains are going to slow us down.

…Or are th

ey?

“You okay, White? Just kidding, you’re obviously not. Hang in there,

friend; we’re almost to the inn.”

The only response I can muster for the Demon Lord’s encouragement

is a faint nod.

Why am I acting like this, you ask?

’Cause I’m carriage

sick and ti

red, that’s why.

All jokes aside…

I guess it started when I got drastically weakened following a certain

incident.

Around two years ago now, a UFO that was really an ancient weapon

appeared from beneath the wasteland.

The damn thing was so big, you’d have

to measure it in miles, and it

came with a ton of machines to boot.

And to top it all off, the UFO was carrying a bomb that could blow

away an entire continent if it went off.

But somehow, we managed to win the fight against that ancient

weapon.

The UFO wa

s brought down.

And the bomb

—

the biggest problem of all

—

was taken care of, too.

Because I ate it.

Yeah, yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking, either.

What was I hoping to accomplish by eating a bomb about to

explode?

Page |

But it

did

solve the problem somehow.

In retrospect, I wanna be like,

The hell was I thinking?!

but it’s hard

to joke about something that actually worked.

I absorbed the bomb’s energy by swallowing it.

Maybe it’s because I was trying to imitate the Demon Lord’s Gluttony

skill when I did it,

because I wound up taking in enough energy to

blow away a continent.

Then, as a very unexpected side effect, all that energy caused me to

undergo deification; as in like, I turned into a god.

Turns out the real definition of a god is just a being who conta

ins a

vast amount of energy.

And since I absorbed the energy of a bomb that could start

Armageddon, I definitely met those qualifications.

Yay! Now I’m totally invincible!

…Is exactly what didn’t happen.

In reality, it’s actually kinda the opposite.

See, b

y becoming a god, I got myself kicked out of the system that

forms the foundation of this world.

The system controls skills, stats, and all that other fun stuff that

doesn’t exist on Earth.

So what happens when you suddenly exist outside that system?

Answe

r: You lose all your stats and skills.

All the strength I’d built up so far was in the form of stats and skills.

Without all of those, I’m basically just a normal person with a bunch

of extra energy.

Page |

Without my stats, I no longer have the power to punch a

boulder and

break it, the sturdiness to withstand the recoil from doing that, or

even my too

fast

follow speed.

Without skills, I can’t make thread, cast magic, or use my Evil Eyes.

Gone, gone, gone. It’s all gone!

Having all the energy in the world wit

hout knowing how to use it is,

like, a total waste of talent.

And it was skills and stats that made using that energy super

simple.

If having the system’s support was like riding a bike with training

wheels, this is like being on an oversized motorcycle

—

thout

knowing how to ride!

Sure, the vehicle’s technically way better now, but that doesn’t mean

anything if you don’t know how to ride it in the first place.

Which is why as of now, I’m no better off than any regular old

human.

In fact, by the standards o

f this world, where everyone receives the

benefits of the system, I’m pretty damn weak.

Now that I think about it, even by the standards of Earth

—

given that

I don’t have the physical energy to talk at all

—

I’m crazy weak.

It reminds me of my memories as Hii

ro Wakaba.

When we did physical fitness exams at school, I always came in dead

last. Ugh.

And it looks like my current physical specs are around that same

level.

Which means I can’t even walk for too long without getting laid out

like this.

ha. Ha

Page |

For a while there, I had nothing to fear except for the likes of the

Demon Lord and Potimas, but now I’m exhausted and rolling around

in a carriage.

What a joke.

I mean, it’s not very funny, but I can still laugh.

“Uh

oh, White’s having convulsions. This

could be bad.”

Peering in at me, the Demon Lord instructs Mera to drive faster.

The carriage speed increases, and so does the degree of bumpiness.

Ulp.

I don’t feel so good.

I clench my teeth, trying to get through it.

Then I feel someone poking at my che

ek.

I’d normally say,

Who did that?!

but it’s pretty obvious who the

prime suspect is.

Sure enough, when I open my eyes, I see Fiel prodding me with a

fingertip.

Ever the prankster, Fiel is the most likely candidate to do this sort of

thing, followed by Ri

el, who can be hard to read.

I listlessly push Fiel’s finger away.

Just leave me alone, please.

At that, Fiel stops poking my cheek, but instead she starts rubbing

my head for some reason.

Actually, it’s more like she’s grabbing my head and dragging it

aro

und.

I mean, I appreciate the concern and all, but could you be a little

gentler about it?

Page |

Having my head get rolled around like this just makes me feel even

—

Urgh!

Just as something very unladylike starts to rise in my throat, a kind

rescuer stays Fiel’s

hand.

It’s Ael, the eldest daughter

like puppet spider.

Ael catches Fiel’s hand, forcing her to stop shaking my head around,

and lands a little chop on Fiel’s forehead to boot.

Yeah, that’s it! Get her, girl!

It’s not like hitting her head will hurt her an

yway, since the puppet

spiders’ real bodies are the tiny spiders hiding inside.

Though they look like young girls, these bodies are really just

puppets being controlled by the spiders within, so there’s no

problem with getting a little rough.

However, Fiel

doesn’t seem to understand why Ael hit her.

I can almost see a question mark floating above her head.

When they do stuff like this, they really do seem just like little girls.

Although the reality is that they’re way too strong for the average

monster to

take on.

If Fiel or Ael felt like it, they could probably pop my head right off,

which is why having one of them shake me around is a bit scary.

As for the other young puppet

spider girls, Sael is in her usual seat,

glancing back at her sisters’ exchange b

ut not moving from her spot.

This is pretty standard for Sael. She’s not very independent, so it’s

rare to see her move on her own.

The last of the sisters, Riel, is staring into space with an unreadable

expression.

What are you, a cat?

Page |

Is there something

in that empty spot that only you can see or what?

Page |

We’ve been traveling together for a long time now, but Riel is still a

mystery to me.

As for the final little girl of the group, though she’s not a puppet

spider, the baby bloodsucker is sitting in he

r seat gazing out at the

scenery, unconcerned with my plight.

At first, she’d gotten worried about me each time I collapsed. But

when it kept happening practically every day, she must have figured

there was no point in worrying or something, because for a

while

now, she’s just been leaving me alone.

This must be how the father of a teenage daughter feels, I bet.

Like, things are totally awkward between us now.

Actually, I think the reason she stopped talking to me is that Mera’s

been making a point of looki

ng after me!

I’m sure Mera just sees it as paying back a debt, since I saved his hide

and all. Even if that wasn’t the case, he’s too considerate to ignore

someone who’s obviously not feeling well.

So whenever I go down for the count, Mera always gallantly

comes

to my rescue, which is probably what’s got Vampy ticked off.

She must know as well as I do that Mera’s not being nice because

he’s attracted to me or whatever, but considering how damn

possessive she is, it’s no surprise that she doesn’t want to see

him

caring for another girl.

The bloodsucking duo’s relationship hasn’t changed much over the

past two years.

I mean, Vampy has certainly grown some, but she’s still just a little

girl.

Page |

And Mera’s obviously not going to consider such a young girl a

potent

ial romantic interest, so he still stays well within the bounds of

a regular master

servant relationship.

But I do have to wonder if he ever entertains the thought…

Our baby bloodsucker has grown quite a bit over these two years.

She’s still a little kid,

yeah, but there’s already hints of the serious

beauty she’ll become one day.

Everyone’s cute when they’re a baby, but as you grow, you start to

develop your individual facial features and all that stuff.

The baby bloodsucker is still in the stage of life w

here everyone is

cute, but it’s also the stage where you can start to get an idea of

what someone is going to look like when they grow up.

And our itty

bitty vampire is one hell of a looker with elegant facial

features.

Overall, she looks like her mother,

but she’s got her father’s eyes, as

they say.

Both her parents were attractive, so at this rate, she’s definitely

gonna grow into a real bombshell.

Maybe then Mera will consider her, I guess.

Still, even if that did happen, I bet Mera would be like,

A serv

ant

must never fall in love with his master!

and get all angsty about it.

But that’s in the distant future, and it’s up to the baby bloodsucker

whether she’ll get her way or not.

Anyway, at the moment, Mera is still preoccupied driving the

carriage.

As the

only man among a group of young girls, he ends up bearing a

lot of scrutiny.

Page |

When we enter a town like this, Mera often has to be the face of the

group.

It used to be that me and the puppet spiders stayed outside of town

because of our appearances, but no

w that I’m fully human

shaped,

there’s no point anymore.

When I got deified, my form changed from a half

human, half

spider

arachne to a fully human body.

And now that the puppet spiders resemble humans at a glance, it

seems mean to make them wait outside,

so they come into town

with us, too.

Nobody’s caught on so far, so we should be fine.

If anything, I’m our biggest worry, not the puppet spiders.

I appear more or less human now, but there’s one problem: my eyes.

I’ve got compound eyes now, with my pupils

containing a bunch of

smaller pupils.

In fact, it’s a total of five pupils per eye

—

two regular, human

size

pupils with four smaller pupils in each

—

which is pretty freaky even

to me.

If you count both sides, that’s ten

eyes

altogether, the same number

I ha

d as an arachne before I turned into a god.

Like, why is the rest of me more or less based on Hiiro Wakaba but

this one part has to be like an arachne?

Why not be more considerate and give me normal eyes, too?!

Thanks to that whole situation, I have to avo

id letting people get a

good look at my eyes when we go out in public.

That means I usually pull a hood down over most of my face to make

it hard to see.

Page |

Even then, someone might catch a glimpse by chance, so I usually

default to keeping my eyes closed whi

le we’re in town.

As a result, the people in towns we visit wind up thinking that I’m a

blind, sickly young noblewoman.

Me, a noblewoman? No waaay.

Oops. Even now, I can’t be sure nobody’s looking.

Heaving a sigh, I close my eyes.

When I do that, I become

even more painfully aware of the carriage

swaying, which makes me feel even sicker, but I don’t have much of

a choice.

In fact, the group bought this carriage specifically for me, so I’d be a

huge jerk to complain about it now.

That’s right. We bought this

because I keep passing out all the time.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere quickly.

I’m so wimpy now that I can’t walk along even flat ground for too

long.

So of course there’s no way I could keep up with the others in the

mountains and fores

ts we’ve been traveling through so far to avoid

being seen.

All that said, now that deification has given me a more or less human

appearance, we’ve got one less reason to avoid being seen in the

first place.

I guess that could be considered a lucky break.

So now that we can use actual roads to get around, the Demon Lord

was nice enough to buy this carriage with her own pocket money.

I know, pretty bougie, right?

Page |

I guess she’s had all kinds of jobs before this demon lord gig, so now

she’s loaded.

I don’t kno

w how much a carriage costs, but I’m guessing it’s not the

kind of thing a normal person can just pick up on impulse.

Still, this was a necessary expense.

Yes, my inability to travel on my own was a big part of it, but there’s

another problem that was just

as important.

Namely: our stuff.

Until now, we’d been storing all the stuff we needed for our journey

with my Spatial Magic.

Spatial Storage is a spell that conveniently lets you put objects into a

separate dimension and take things out or put things in w

henever

you like.

And since everything goes into another dimension, it doesn’t take up

space or weigh anything.

It’s the perfect spell for carrying luggage.

But now I can’t use magic anymore.

And I was the only one of us who could use Spatial Magic.

In oth

er words, we now have to carry all the stuff that we were able

to just stow in Spatial Storage until now.

Not to brag, but my magic abilities were pretty crazy, which means I

was able to fit a considerable amount in Spatial Storage.

So carrying all that st

uff on our backs would be a bit difficult.

Given the Demon Lord’s and the puppet spiders’ stats, I’m sure they

could manage somehow, but that would require some enormous

backpacks.

Page |

That seemed a little silly, which was why we wound up with this

carriage.

s an aside, we only managed to get all the stuff that was stuck in my

Spatial Storage because Güli

güli was nice enough to retrieve it for

us.

I don’t know if he used his administrator’s authority or if he simply

manipulated space to force my Spatial Stora

ge open or what, but

otherwise we would have lost all our stuff, so I’m grateful.

Spatial Storage is a form of magic, so you have to provide it with

magic power to keep it going.

With my magic abilities gone, it would’ve eventually run out of the

power I p

ut into it, and the whole pocket dimension would have

disappeared along with everything inside.

Thank you, based Güli

güli.

That being said, I was shocked at the amount of stuff he pulled out.

I’d just been shoving things in there without thinking, so it r

eally

piled up over time.

We’re talking the meat and parts of monsters I’d hunted, things like

that.

And the clothes and stuff that the puppet spiders and I had been

making to kill time.

Plus a set of camping tools and so much cookware and spices that I

lf expected to see a literal kitchen sink come out.

Really, there was no end to it all.

It was way too much to cram into a single carriage, so we had to

dispose of some, as much as it pained me to do so.

We bought the biggest carriage they had, and that

ill

wasn’t

enough to keep everything.

Page |

Still, it’s big enough to fit all of us with room to spare, plus it has a

separate space for luggage.

I think it’s supposed to be for merchants traveling long distances.

Of course, that means it’s super

heavy, so it’s

bound to be tough on

the horse pulling it…but this is a fantasy world, remember?

This isn’t actually a horse

drawn carriage. It’s wyrm

drawn.

The creature’s shape does resemble a horse, but its face is definitely

that of a wyrm.

Specifically, it’s an earth

wyrm, the kind that’s actually used fairly

often in place of a horse in this world.

It’s got way more strength and stamina than a horse, and since it

still a wyrm, it’s totally battle ready, too.

That being said, its stats are all around the low hundre

ds, so I’m not

really expecting too much from it.

But this wyrm is pretty impressive from a normal person’s

perspective, making it the best possible creature for pulling a

carriage, or so I’m told.

I mean, it’s a substitute horse, but it’s also an earth wy

rm.

As I experienced firsthand with Araba, earth

type wyrms and dragons

all share a deep code of honor.

These guys are no different. They’ll only obey someone who they’ve

accepted as their master.

Which also means once they decide that’s what you are, they

’ll be

loyal to you for life.

Oh, by the way, as you may have gathered from me saying

these

guys

, we’ve actually got two earth wyrms pulling this carriage.

It’s a two

horse

—

no, two

wyrm carriage.

Page |

Does that mean it runs on wyrmpower, not horsepower?

Anyway,

these earth wyrms are popular because of their loyalty, but

since they also have to acknowledge you as their master first, your

stats have to be at a certain level or they’ll never obey you.

They usually obey only knights and stuff, who usually ride on to

p of

them directly as cavalry mounts.

Putting that all together means there’s not a whole lot of people who

have an earth wyrm pulling their carriage.

Never mind

two

Obviously, we stand out a little bit.

And by

a little bit

, I mean a lot.

On top of that,

when people find out it’s mostly just young girls

riding in this already unusual wyrm

drawn carriage, we stand out

even more.

More than half our members appear to be little girls, and Mera’s the

only man to be found.

Given this unique setup, we tend to be

the subject of a lot of gossip

in every town we visit.

Usually, I pass out in the local inn as soon as we arrive, so it’s Mera

and the Demon Lord who end up gathering that sort of information.

Speaking of which, we better get to an inn soon, or there’s gon

na be

trouble.

This carriage moves way too much!

My butt and my inner ear are under attack here!

Seriously, it’s not funny.

If anyone out there is thinking,

A carriage can’t bounce around

that

much

, I invite you to try it out for yourself sometime.

Page |

There a

ren’t any paved roads here, either.

Some of the bigger roads are paved to an extent sometimes, but not

the rural back roads like this one.

We’re talking the bumpiest dirt roads you’ve ever seen in your damn

life.

Take a carriage onto a road like that and t

here’s going to be some

serious jostling.

You ever been sitting and had your butt bounce right out of the seat?

It’s just like an amusement

park ride.

Except it’s not fun at all!

Thanks to that, my whole body hurts (especially my butt), and

getting bumping

around in every direction is making me feel sick.

Throw in my now

pathetic physical stamina, and you’ve got a recipe

for disaster.

Once we get into town, the bouncing lessens a little bit, but by now

the pain, discomfort, and queasiness have taken their t

oll.

The Demon Lord really splurged on this carriage, so it’s about as

good as they get, but it’s still rough on this new body of mine.

I mean, this is loads better than walking on my own two feet, sure,

but still not ideal.

What I need right now is a bed

that doesn’t shake!

Ah, once we get to the inn, I’m gonna sleep forever…

“White? Whiiite? We made it to the inn, okaaay? Uh

oh, you don’t

look so good. You’re not just pale anymore; you’re white as a sheet. I

picked the right name for you, huh?”

Um, aren’t

I always white as a sheet?

Page |

I do feel worse than normal right now, though.

“Merazophis, would you do the honors?”

“Yes, of course.”

The Demon Lord doesn’t need to specify further than that.

Immediately, I suddenly feel someone directing murderous wrath

tow

ard me, but I’m just gonna ignore it.

Definitely my imagination.

My limp body is gently lifted off the floor of the carriage.

I don’t have the energy to open my eyes, but Mera must be carrying

me bridal

style.

That’s what usually happens when I go down lik

e this, so I’m used to

it by now.

I’m also not surprised by the creeping sensation that someone wants

to kill me, which I’m still ignoring.

I can’t help it, okay?!

If I could stand on my own right now, I would! Believe me!

But I can’t, so I got no choice b

ut to have Mera carry me like this!

Like, come on. Everyone else in this group basically looks like a child.

Sure, because of their stats, some of them are a lot stronger than

they look.

But don’t you think it would stand out a little too much if a tiny gi

was carrying a grown

ass woman over her shoulder?

The Demon Lord’s not as small as the others, but there’s still a major

difference in size between us.

If anything, since Mera’s the only man in our group, people would

probably give him looks if he let a

nyone else carry me.

Page |

Which means it’s inevitable that Mera has to carry me, okay?

So quit blaming me, Vampy!

Don’t start turning into a crazy stalker when you’re still basically a

toddler.

If I open my eyes right now, I’d probably spot a wee vampire glarin

at me with a face straight out of a horror movie, so I’m just gonna

keep ’em shut like dead weight.

Well, it’s not like the dead

weight thing is an act anyway.

Opening my eyes would seriously be more trouble than it’s worth.

Instead, I just let myself ge

t carried until I’m lowered onto a bed.

Ohhh.

It’s soft. It’s not moving. Am I in heaven?

Actually, it could be a little softer, but this is an inn in some hick town

in the middle of nowhere, so I’m not gonna complain.

Right now, I’m happy just to be able

to lay in a real bed.

Yep. I’m not lifting a single finger.

Gonna go right to sleep!

Good night.

Page |

THE

OGRE

’

ORIGIN

I’ve always hated crooked things.

When I clos

e my eyes, I can still picture that village as vividly as ever.

It was a small village, so small that even with a child’s stride, running

its entire length would take almost no time.

The door of the house across from mine was slightly warped, and a

stain o

n the house behind mine was in the shape of a bird.

Such insignificant things are precious memories to me now.

As I walked around that village, my little sister would run with all her

might to keep up with me.

She still couldn’t speak very well, so I don’t

know where she got all

that energy, but still, she stuck close to me, never leaving my side for

a moment.

Even I couldn’t help but dote on such an adorable little sister.

Even if she wasn’t human.

Green skin, a wrinkly face vaguely reminiscent of a monkey

’s, and

those cute round eyes all added to her charm.

She bore a strong resemblance to the race called “goblins” that often

appeared in fantasy stories in my old world.

Which made sense, because that’s what she was.

And since my younger sister was a goblin

, that meant I was, too.

I don’t know how it happened, but I just woke up as a goblin one day.

That’s the only way I can explain it.

Page |

I still remember my former life, if I can call it that

—

my life as a

human, as Kyouya Sasajima.

But those memories cut off a

bruptly in the middle of an classical

literature class in high school.

I have no idea how those memories connect to me becoming a

goblin.

But I knew right away that this wasn’t a dream and that I would have

to live as a goblin from now on.

And while most p

eople might find this strange, I actually quite

enjoyed life as a goblin.

A small, simple village, with none of the complex branching side

streets of Japan.

Instead of complicated human relationships, the villagers all shared a

close bond, possibly because

of the harsh environment in which we

lived together.

And most of all, goblins are a simple, straightforward race.

In the fantasy stories of my old world, goblins were often depicted as

the weakest and perhaps stupidest of the “demi

human” races.

That wasn

’t entirely inaccurate here.

However, the impression they give in reality is very different.

There were many monsters in the mountain range where the village

was located, and goblins were among the weakest of them.

But they’re strong enough to fight agains

t those strong monsters by

working together.

They might be weak as a race, but they make up for it with tools,

skill, and the strength of their camaraderie.

Page |

And while they’re considered dim

witted, that’s only because most

of them are illiterate. A short t

alk with them makes it clear they’re

no different than the average human.

They have enough intelligence to live an average life perfectly well.

If anything, I gained a sense of reverence from watching them, like

monks who have achieved a level of enlighten

ment.

They carry a certain nobility that makes it impossible to mock them

as stupid.

Especially if you’ve observed them simply going about their daily

lives like I have.

Every day begins with a prayer.

They give thanks to the world, the goddess who protect

s the world,

and their daily bread.

After that, they set about their work.

The goblins who haven’t evolved undergo training, and the ones who

have evolved into hobgoblins help train them.

Then those who are strong enough form a hunting party and head

out f

rom the village.

The village is nestled deep within a steep mountain range, a

dangerous natural environment brimming with powerful monsters.

When the goblin

hunting parties set out on their task, only about

half of them return.

The reason the goblin villag

e manages to survive despite this is that

goblins reproduce quite a lot.

All of this is more or less in line with my image of goblins from my old

life.

Page |

When the hunting parties return, the other goblins welcome them

back and mourn the fallen.

Then they say

a prayer of thanks for the food that the hunters risked

their lives to bring back.

Goblins must constantly face death so the village can survive.

Those who stay behind offer them pressed flowers for good luck.

Each gift of flowers contains a strong, inten

se wish for the hunters to

return safely.

The hunters hold those feelings close to their hearts as they set out

on a life

and

death journey and return.

In order to live.

And to keep the village alive.

In a few words, the lives of goblins seem primitive, ma

inly revolving

around hunting.

But there is a strong sense of purpose that can be gained from this

way of life, one that wasn’t present in my old life in Japan.

Fighting in order to live; dying so that others might live.

There is no good or evil in that cy

cle, just the brilliance of life.

As I watched them live this way, my admiration deepened.

I hoped to fight for the village one day, just like the hunting parties

did.

So that my little sister who followed me around could live.

That was all I wanted…

Witho

ut so much as a cry, a young man falls to the ground with a

sword through his chest.

His body sinks into the white snow, dyeing it a deep red.

Page |

In a few moments, severe blood loss will kill him.

“Dammit! Shit!”

Another man readies his sword and swears.

He w

ears fur armor, the garb of a savage tribe.

The humans known as “adventurers” often wear armor and weapons

made of the monsters they have slain.

Equipment fashioned from a monster’s parts sometimes inherits a

certain degree of that monster’s power in life.

So while fur might not

seem very protective, it probably still carries some of the defensive

power of the monster it once belonged to.

Clearly, it’s not just there to protect the man from cold.

The man’s stance is proof enough of that. He has the air of a

human

who’s accustomed to fighting.

But even he can make mistakes.

In a panic, he lets out a yell.

A decision that leaves him wide open.

“Gah?!”

The man goes flying backward.

He managed to block the sudden attack with his sword.

But getting caught by surp

rise has thrown him off balance, or

perhaps his opponent is simply too strong, so his defenses are down.

Unable to completely cancel out the attack, he’s knocked back and

collides with a nearby tree.

The tree lets out a dry sound and cracks under the strai

Coughing up blood, the man rolls out of the way of the falling tree.

Its leaves scatter, and snow flies into the air from the ground.

Page |

The snow glistens in the air, blocking the man’s vision for just a

moment.

So I pierce through the curtain of snow as I

strike.

“Ngh?!”

I can see the man’s face stiffen.

He’s still half sitting up, in the midst of trying to stand.

One of his hands is on the ground, and while the one holding his

sword is still free, he’s in no position to swing it with any amount of

strengt

In this moment, he cannot dodge or block.

His life is as good as mine.

I can see that he knows this as well as I do.

But instead, I stop, pulling myself back.

An arrow whizzes past me, cutting through the air with a sharp, shrill

sound.

Following it wit

h my eyes, I watch as it bores a large hole straight

through a tree.

If it had hit me instead, that hole would be in my body right now.

That was close. If they’d waited a moment longer, they might have

actually hit me.

Although the man’s life would have be

en forfeit if they had waited.

It was the best possible timing as far as saving the man’s life, but

considering the overall situation, I don’t know if that was the best

option.

Really, I shouldn’t be analyzing this like I’m casually looking on from

the sid

elines.

Page |

I’m the one fighting these men, after all.

“Rukusso! Run for it!”

The man stands up and shouts.

Didn’t he learn from his mistake of letting his guard down while

yelling a moment ago?

But seconds later, another arrow comes flying to cover the man.

n order to dodge, I have no choice but to move away.

“Rukusso, forget about me! Just go!” He continues shouting at the

boy who’s firing arrows.

Taking my eyes off the man for a second, I glance at the young

bowman he called Rukusso.

Standing a short distan

ce away, the boy was clearly uncertain what

to do about the order to leave.

Should he run away, or should he stay here and fight me?

“Run! Go and tell Gotou or Regg that this

—

this is no ordinary ogre!”

At that, the boy named Rukusso reluctantly turns aroun

d and starts

to run.

As I watch him sprint away, it’s my turn to hesitate.

Should I let him go, or…?

“Not a chance!”

Lost in thought, I realize my reaction was a second too late.

I duck my head, barely dodging the sword as the blade passes in

front of my f

ace.

But the man’s doesn’t stop there as he follows up with another sharp

swing.

It’s not fast.

Page |

And I can’t say it’s terribly precise.

But there’s so much determination in his reckless swing that I can’t

help retreating from it.

“Hff! Hff!”

His shoulders h

eave.

I can tell that attack must have been taken the last of his strength.

On top of that, blood is trickling from his mouth as he gasps for air.

Looks like he wasn’t able to completely recover from hitting that tree

before.

“Ha! I might be some second

te adventurer, but I can at least use

my last moments to buy enough time for my junior to escape with

his life! Come at me!”

The man roars defiantly, as if to shake off any fear that might be

taking root.

In reality, I can already see a slight waver in his

eyes that he can’t

quite hide.

As he grips his sword, his hands are shaking, and not just from the

cold.

Some part of me feels strangely detached while I continue watching

him.

But I’m unmistakably the one fighting him, and now my body moves

on its own to

kill him.

It’s as if my body and mind are working independently of each other.

How did it come to this?

I just wanted to live out a quiet, peaceful life as a goblin…

“Take this!”

Page |

The man charges toward me.

He called himself an adventurer, which means he’s

made a living of

defeating monsters.

In this world, there are creatures called monsters, considered a

threat to humans everywhere.

An adventurer’s job is to fight these monsters.

Which means that by fighting me right now, this man is simply doing

his job.

Because from a human’s perspective, I’m just another monster.

It’s no surprise, really.

In the fiction of my old world, goblins were almost always the villains

of the story.

Although I’m not even a goblin anymore.

I’ve evolved all the way into an ogre, wh

ich is far stronger and larger

than any goblin.

From a human adventurer’s perspective, I’m sure a monster like me

should be killed on sight.

And yet…

“You damn scum!”

“Who are you calling

scum

?”

“Wha

—

?!”

Evidently surprised that I can speak, the man slows

his reactions.

Leaving me the perfect chance to sink my blade into his chest.

“Guh?!”

“Who’s the real scum here? You’re the ones who came after our

village. You forced me to do those horrible things!”

Page |

Images of the past flash across my mind.

The houses of

the village, all aflame.

The goblins fleeing, the humans chasing them down.

My little sister squeezing my hand as we ran.

The human who caught up and seized me.

And then the order.

That horrible command.

“Wh

what…?”

“You humans are the worst scum of all!”

The memories send fury coursing through me.

I let that violent passion take control, sending MP into the blade still

deep in the man’s chest.

The MP activates the blade’s special effect, surrounding it in flames.

In an instant, the flames swallow the man u

p and destroy him.

Damn.

I gave in to my fury and killed him in an instant.

Shouldn’t I have made him suffer more first?

…No, wait. That’s not what I should be regretting here.

This man was just an unrelated adventurer who happened to be

passing through.

f course, they’re the ones who attacked me first, so I was just

defending myself.

But it was probably wrong to take it this far.

As that thought passes through my mind, a self

derisive sneer rises

to my lips.

Page |

Wrong or not, as soon as I took a life, things

like good and evil likely

lost all meaning.

I never had to think about good and evil, not when I was in the goblin

village anyway.

And yet, now…

Why did things end up like this?

Page |

’

M A

SHUT

Good mor

ning.

The sunlight streaming in through the window is so bright and

annoying.

Damn you, sun…

Fortunately, the sunlight doesn’t reach my bed thanks to the layout

of this inn.

At least I don’t have to worry about waking up with the sun right in

my face.

Stil

l, just because it’s not directly touching me doesn’t mean I can let

my guard down.

You can’t underestimate the power of the sun.

That bastard affects us in all kinds of ways just by existing.

Pretty scary, right?

Why am I so afraid of the sunlight, you as

Because I’m an albino, of course.

Yeah, I know.

If you were going to point out that I’ve been that way for a while

now, please don’t bother.

I mean, considering how my whole body is pure white and I’ve got

red eyes to boot, it did cross my mind that it

might be albinism,

okay?

But I didn’t experience any of the side effects, so I figured I just

happened to have a similar coloration.

Page |

But since deification, I’ve learned that I was wrong.

If sunlight touches me directly, it hurts.

Like, a lot.

Albinism is a

condition in which the melanin pigment isn’t produced

properly, resulting in white skin, hair, and so on.

The eyes are red because the blood vessels are visible through the

irises.

And it so happens that the presence of melanin is important for

reducing t

he harm caused by ultraviolet rays, so if you don’t have

much, those UV rays become a serious problem.

If sunlight hits me, I get sunburn

like symptoms immediately.

You might think sunburns aren’t a big deal, but you’d be wrong,

okay?

Sunburns can increase

your risk of skin cancer. Plus, they hurt like

hell.

And this stupid world doesn’t have sunscreen or anything sensible

like that, so it’s actually kind of a huge problem for me.

Of course, there is Healing Magic in this world, so I guess it’s all right

theory, but that doesn’t mean I want to be in constant agony.

In fact, the Demon Lord’s already treated me with Healing Magic

plenty of times over the past two years.

Ideally, I’d just avoid doing anything in direct sunlight, but it’s hard to

keep that up

over such an extended journey.

I seem to remember that albinism can also affect your eyesight, but

my eyesight doesn’t seem too bad.

Sure, it’s not as good as it was before this deification business, but I’d

say I can see about as well as the average pers

on.

Page |

Is it because I’ve got ten pupils?

Your guess is as good as mine, buddy.

Still, it’s better than walking around half

blind.

Anyway, I’m guessing the reason I never suffered these symptoms

before is thanks to my super

high stats.

My defense was so high

that ultraviolet rays didn’t affect me.

Pretty crazy, right?

Guess all I have to do is raise my stats.

Except that I don’t have them anymore!

Please, stats, come back to me!

…Nope, didn’t work. Still don’t have any.

Looks like UV rays are just one more thi

ng I’m gonna have to deal

with.

Turning away from the sunny window, I look around the room.

Wait, there’s somebody crouching in the corner!

That scares me for a second, until I look closer and realize it’s just

Sael.

She must have stayed behind to look aft

er me.

No one else is in the room, and I don’t hear anyone outside the door.

I guess everyone else went out.

Wait, even the bloodsucker duo? Why are you guys going out in

broad daylight?!

What kind of world is this that I have to be more afraid of sunlight

than freaking vampires?!

It’s all because their stats are so damn high!

Page |

Gimme those stats, dammit!

Okay, there’s no point in taking it out on the bloodsuckers.

It’s not like Mera and the kid got those stats without any effort.

They used to be nothing but

a baby and her caretaker, but they’ve

been training hard over the course of this journey and they’ve come

a long way.

Without my Appraisal skill, I can no longer tell how strong they are.

But according to the Demon Lord, they’re still coming along quite

cely.

It’s kinda like training has become part of their daily routine.

I guess it was me who got them into that habit, but it’s impressive

that they’re keeping it up even though I can’t teach them anymore

after the whole turning

into

god thing.

Is this h

ow it was with Pavlov’s dogs?

Or are they just a couple of weirdos?

Well, I guess I get why Mera wants to keep training.

In the past, he wasn’t able to protect the baby bloodsucker’s

parents.

I understand all too well the feeling of wanting to be stronger

after

suffering because you were too weak.

When my home went up in flames and I had no choice but to run

away, I was frustrated beyond belief.

Mera must have felt a similar way, or probably even worse, since he

lost the people he cherished.

He’s probably t

raining now so that he’ll be able to protect the person

he cares about if anything like that happens again.

Page |

Even if the person he’s trying to protect is kind of a monstrous

vampire… But let’s just ignore that part.

Ahem. Anyway.

The baby bloodsucker, huh?

Her training regimen has taken a weird turn.

Most recently, she’s been training by having mock battles with Ael.

And that’s kind of what’s so weird in the first place.

I know Ael looks like a little girl, but she’s actually a super

strong

monster with stat

s over a thousand each, y’know?

She could probably destroy a whole town on her own, maybe even a

whole damn country.

And this kid is having practice battles against her?

There’s definitely something weird about that.

I mean, Ael isn’t going all out, of cou

rse.

If someone wants to fight Ael at her full strength, they’d better have

an elder dragon or something on your side.

But even so, it’s crazy that Vampy can hold her own against Ael in a

mock battle.

Not to mention, those battles get so intense that they

can’t even

have them in front of people.

You ever been in a carriage when two of the people just up and

vanish, and then you hear a bunch of booms and crashes echo in the

distance?

We’re talking comic book

–

level sound effects here.

If their fights are that

crazy, I guess I can see why Ael would agree to

them.

Page |

I bet some rando monsters wouldn’t even stand a chance against

Vampy anymore.

Those are some scary little girls.

By the way, Ael is the only one who participates in these mock

battles.

Why, you ask?

cause the other puppet spiders don’t know how to hold back.

Sael might accidentally kill the baby bloodsucker.

Riel, on the other hand, might accidentally kill the baby bloodsucker.

Fiel, you guessed it, might accidentally kill the baby bloodsucker.

So by

process of elimination, Ael is the only one who can do it.

With the others, the only outcome I can see is Vampy accidentally

getting killed.

And one of those who might accidentally kill someone, Sael, is

currently lurking in the corner glancing at me.

Sael

almost never acts on her own without being told what to do.

Sometimes her total lack of independence gets on my nerves, but

that also means that she’ll faithfully carry out any orders you give

her, which means she ends up on guard duty like this a lot.

less an emergency arises, she doesn’t have to do anything, so it’s

perfect.

Although if an emergency

did

arise, I don’t think she’d be much help.

I can’t even picture Sael staying on her toes and adapting to a

situation on the fly.

She can probably make th

e most basic decisions as a bodyguard, or

so I’d like to think, but this is Sael we’re talking about, so…

Page |

At least I don’t have to worry about her doing something totally

unexpected like Riel, but it’s still a little anxiety

inducing.

Other than that, she’

s just as strong as Ael, but…having power and

being able to use it are two very different things.

Putting these rather rude thoughts aside, I sit up slowly in bed.

I’ve been lying around for a good five minutes or so since I woke up.

Back when I had the Th

ought Acceleration skill, I could dwell on

pointless thoughts as long as I wanted and only a few seconds would

pass in real time, but that’s not the case anymore.

Time doesn’t conveniently slow down for me when I get lost in

thought.

In other words, while

I’ve been making this pointless, rude analysis of

Sael, she’s just been sitting timidly in the corner of the room the

whole time.

That’s pretty impressive in its own way.

If it was Fiel, I’m sure she would’ve gotten impatient and jumped on

me by now.

When

you think about it that way, maybe Sael is actually well suited

to this kind of job.

For the most part, the only thing she has to do is sit still.

Riel is decent at sitting still, too, but in her case, I feel like there’d be

a real danger of her forgetting

that she was supposed to be a

bodyguard in the first place.

I guess this is what they mean by choosing the right person for the

job.

Although there is one more reason she ends up staying behind on

guard duty pretty often.

Page |

Unlike her other limbs, one of th

e left arms that’s hidden by her long

sleeves looks just like a puppet’s arm.

For the most part, the puppet spiders’ bodies are almost

indistinguishable from humans thanks to my magical modifications.

Not only their appearance, but even the feel of their s

kin is similar

enough that you wouldn’t know at a glance or a touch.

However, Sael’s left arm got destroyed by an enemy tank right

before the UFO incident two years ago.

And since I got deified, I can’t produce thread anymore, which of

course means I can’t

make puppet parts with thread, either.

The Demon Lord has the same Divine Thread Weaving skill, so I

casually thought she might be able to reproduce it, but she said,

“Yeah, no, I can’t,” and threw in the towel immediately. I guess what

I was doing was ac

tually kinda crazy.

The Demon Lord did help me at the time, but I guess she couldn’t

quite reproduce human skin like I could.

So Sael’s left arm is currently in an incomplete state, and while it

functions just fine, it would probably look pretty strange to

most

people.

People might even guess that she’s a monster if they saw it, similar

to how my eyes might give me away.

Which is why Sael often ends up being a shut

in like me.

I stand in front of the dresser in the room, then beckon to Sael.

When she hesita

ntly shuffles over, I gesture to her to help me get

dressed.

Sael and the other puppet spiders love dressing me up, so I have

them help me fairly often.

Page |

Heh, it’s so nice of me to offer to be these little girls’ dress

up doll for

their entertainment.

It’s

definitely not because doing it myself is a pain.

Nope, definitely not.

Sael retrieves some clothing from our luggage and carries it over.

Today, she’s picked out a short

sleeve shirt and a miniskirt, both of

which show a considerable amount of skin.

Her f

ashion choices for me tend to be surprisingly bold.

Why is this the only time she decides to be independent?

She’s a puppet, so she doesn’t breathe, but I swear I can almost hear

her huffing and puffing with glee.

Well, I guess it’s fine, since I’m going t

o wear a robe over it anyway.

Giving up, I let her dress me however she likes, then rub some lotion

with a sunblock

like effect over my skin for good measure.

It’s not as effective as the Japanese stuff, but it’s better than nothing.

Folks in this world do

n’t seem to be too concerned about skin care,

or I guess they don’t have to worry about sunburns and stuff thanks

to their stats, so there aren’t a lot of beauty products like this.

In fact, most of the common folks here spend their days just trying to

sur

vive, so only rich people can buy luxury products like this in the

first place.

Which means makeup and the like is actually pretty expensive.

This stuff puts a considerable strain on the Demon Lord’s wallet, I

bet.

But I have no choice!

Page |

I’m not having her

buy me this stuff for beauty’s sake; it’s because I’ll

definitely burn without it!

As I make excuses to myself, Sael finishes helping me into my

clothes, so I sit on the stool in front of the dresser.

Sael looks excited as she starts brushing my hair.

Sinc

e it’s rather smooth and frizz

free, it takes only a few strokes

before she moves on to tying my usual braid.

I’m crazy susceptible to sunlight for the most part, but for some

reason, nothing seems to damage my hair.

I’m still careful about covering up wit

h a hood so it won’t get any

sun, of course.

I do find it a little mysterious that my hair always stays this smooth,

though.

You don’t think I’m subconsciously using my godly powers to keep

my hair looking nice, do you?

Hmm. I can’t say for sure that that’

s not the case, which is a little

concerning.

It’s better than having unruly hair, so I guess I can’t complain.

But if I can use my powers for that, why can’t I use them for anything

else?

It’s been pretty rough not having any powers these past two years.

Every time something goes wrong, I imagine how much easier life

would be if I had them again.

So as Sael continues arranging my hair, I focus with all my might.

In my mind’s eye, I picture thread.

White, thin, sturdy spider thread.

Page |

I imagine it coming out

of my fingertips.

But no matter how hard I will it, thread doesn’t appear.

Nothing happens if I try to picture Dark Magic or focus power in my

eyes to use Evil Eyes, either.

While I’m trying these things, Sael finishes her work.

Checking in the mirror, I s

ee myself looking perfectly well

groomed.

No luck today, just as I suspected.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been trying all kinds of things to

get my old powers back.

I’ve tried meditating to see if I could detect the flow of magic power

and weight l

ifting to regain some physical strength

—

like I said, all

kinds of things.

But every single attempt has ended in failure.

Skills and stats are how the system forces this world’s inhabitants to

use their power, after all.

In other words, it’s a support syste

m that helps guide people on how

to use their power correctly.

Now that I don’t have that support anymore, I can’t use my power.

But the system is nothing more than that: a support system.

In the end, we’re the ones who are actually using the power.

By tha

t logic, it should be possible to use my power even without the

system’s help.

Güli

güli said himself that if I just learn how to do that, I could be as

strong or even stronger than he is.

But I’ve got no idea how to go about that!

I’m like a little Japane

se boy going around yelling,

MEHAMEHA!

Page |

Obviously that’s not gonna work!

How do I make it work?!

Just work already, dammit!

Ugh. I seriously have no clue.

Since I don’t know how to use my supposedly amazing power, I’m

just falling flat on my face before I

even begin.

It’s like I haven’t even made it to the starting line yet.

I used tons of skills and stuff before deification, so I have some idea

of how it’s supposed to feel, or at least I thought I did.

At first I was optimistic that I’d figure out how to

use it pretty fast,

but it’s already been two whole years.

Even I’m starting to freak out now.

What if I never figure out how to use my powers, and I just stay this

weak forever?

That’s not gonna happen, I think (I hope), but I guess it’s actually

normal f

or humans not to have power in the first place.

Skills are an unnatural power granted by the system in this world,

unlike Earth, where there were no superpowers or anything like that.

It’s normal to not have powers.

Maybe that’s just how it’s gonna be for

me from now on.

But I know for sure that an enormous amount of power is resting

inside me somewhere.

I just don’t know how to tap into it yet.

All I need is some kind of awakening that helps me figure out how to

wield my power, and I’ll finally be able to

see the light at the end of

the tunnel, I hope.

Page |

Swallowing a sigh, I stand up.

I pull out my usual unfashionable robe from our luggage and throw it

on.

It seems like a waste after Sael got me all dressed up, but I want to

expose as little skin as possible,

and I need a big hood to cover these

creepy eyes of mine.

Besides, I have other reasons to hide my face, too.

So I pull my hood down low and head out of the room, Sael following

behind me.

The inn we’re staying in is three stories, with our room on the se

cond

floor.

The first floor is probably a dining hall, so I’ll start with a late

breakfast.

But when I go down the stairs and step into the dining area, there

are already other customers, despite the time of day.

Two men are drinking booze in the early aft

ernoon and chatting

away.

Judging by their clothes, they’re probably adventurers.

I’ve kiiiinda got a bad feeling about this, but my hunger wins out, so I

keep moving.

The two adventurers notice Sael and me entering the dining hall and

stare at us dubiousl

Yeah, I guess I can’t blame them for being suspicious of someone

wearing a sketchy robe with their hood up even though we’re inside

a building.

Taking care to ignore the adventurers, I attempt to walk past them.

Page |

I would’ve liked to avoid them entirely,

but they’re sitting at the

table closest to the entrance, so no such luck.

Left with no other choice, I walk by their table.

That’s when it happens.

“Whoopsie!”

One of the men stumbles, clearly deliberately, and yanks off my

hood.

The two men smirk at me.

Now they’ve done it!

I close my eyes immediately, so at least they don’t see those.

But obviously, with my eyes closed, I can’t see anything.

I don’t know what these two buffoons are going to try next.

“Ooh! What a beaut!”

I feel their breath unexpectedly

close to my face, reeking of alcohol.

As I draw back, startled, I feel a sudden impact near my neck.

It’s nothing too forceful, but clearly one of the men has put his arm

around my shoulders, although I can’t actually see it.

Drunken bastards!

This is why

I don’t like to show my face!

Look, I know it’s weird to say this about myself, but I’m actually

pretty hot.

Between my stunning good looks and my unusual skin color (or lack

thereof), I tend to draw waaay more attention than I’d prefer to.

Which is why I

avoid showing my face as much as possible.

Page |

But these drunks pulled off my hood, and now they have the nerve

to mess with me even further?!

At first, I manage to remain calm.

Or rather, it’s more like my brain can’t even process what’s

happening.

But after

the next attack, my thoughts go flying in another direction

entirely.

“Ooh, you’ve got more going on than meets the eye, eh?”

Huh?

What?

Hmm?

I feel a squeezing sensation.

Right around the area of my chest.

He’s

feeling me up

Honestly, I’m amazed I don’t

faint on the spot.

If anything, I’m sure I’m seconds away from doing so.

But then I hear the drunk say something else.

“Hunh? What do you want, brat?”

Oh crap!

Without another thought, I reach out for Sael.

My eyes are still closed, so I’m just going on my

instincts, but luckily I

manage to grab her small shoulder.

Through my hand, I can feel her stop moving.

Whew, that was close.

Page |

If I was a second too late, a serious tragedy might’ve unfolded just

now.

As you may recall, Sael doesn’t really act independent

ly.

But there are certain things that she knows she’s supposed to do,

based on prior experience.

And in this situation, I know exactly what Sael was about to do:

eliminate the enemy.

You might think it silly for a powerful monster to regard some run

the

mill drunks as enemies, but Sael seriously can’t make judgment

calls like that.

She doesn’t worry about the finer details. She just identifies anyone

who messes with any of us as an enemy.

If it were Ael here, she would probably be able to chase off the

runks without anyone getting hurt, but Sael isn’t good with such

delicate maneuvers.

All she can do is what she’s already been ordered to do, so you have

to be extra careful around her in situations like these.

As much as I hate to say it, these guys proba

bly shouldn’t get the

death penalty for groping me.

And now it’s

job to save the lives of these drunken assholes even

though they’re the ones who harassed me?

Unreal.

…Honestly, if you really think about it, should I really protect them at

all?

If they’

re gonna get drunk first thing in the morning and start

harassing any girl who passes by, wouldn’t they be better off dead

anyway?

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Page |

Just as my mind wanders down this dangerous path while I start

seriously considering

letting Sael do her thing, someone shouts from

the back of the galley.

Instinctively, I open my eyes a bit to see who’s speaking and find a

well

built older lady stomping toward us from the kitchen.

She’s even bigger (and wider) than these well

built adven

turers.

“If you’re going to bother other customers, I’ll have to ask you to

leave!”

“Oh, uh, we’re sorry.”

Shrinking away from the woman, the drunks seem to sober up in an

instant.

“Don’t apologize to me! Apologize to this poor girl!”

“Y

yes, ma’am! We’re

sorry!”

You rule, lady!

The adventurers give me a quick bow before hustling out of the

dining hall.

“Honestly. This is the problem with adventurers.” The lady heaves a

sigh. “I’m sorry, young ladies.”

She’s got nothing to apologize for. If anything, she sa

ved me, so I

should be thanking her.

For the time being, I try to communicate with gestures that it’s no

big deal.

“Not all adventurers are such awful boors, but my goodness. You’re a

real beauty, too, so you’d best be careful.”

Yeah, that’s why I was wear

ing a hood and hiding out in the inn.

Although I guess maybe wearing a hood inside only makes me stand

out more.

Page |

“Especially lately, when so many adventurers from abroad are

coming to town. There might be some shady folks slipping in with the

crowd, so min

d you don’t get mixed up in anything dangerous.”

Huh?

Why are out

town adventurers gathering here?

Most adventurers in this world seem to pick one town and stay

there.

Their job is to defeat monsters, after all.

They have to ward off any monsters that g

et too close to town every

day, so they don’t usually stray far from their respective towns

unless there’s a major reason.

So what’s the big development bringing people here right now?

“Seems an ogre’s appeared close to town. It’s even beaten a few

adventu

rers who went out after it, too. So now other adventurers

are gathering from the nearby towns and villages to fight it. Scary

stuff, wouldn’t you say?”

Huh.

Ogre, you say?

If it’s turned the tables on a few adventurers, it must be pretty

strong.

Some of th

e monsters in this world are similar to the ones that

appeared in the stories back on Earth.

Maybe a certain evil god decided to make this one for a little

entertainment.

I’ve never seen an ogre in person, but they seem to be fairly common

monsters that sh

ow up all over.

Page |

Which usually means they’re the kind of monster that humans can

handle.

So it’s unusual for them to be all that strong, but if this one’s killing

adventurers, it must be a pretty special individual.

Not that I’m one to talk, but weirdly str

ong monsters do pop up once

in a while, so I’m sure this is just another case of that.

For our group, though, an ogre’s not even a threat worth

mentioning.

No matter how strong it might be, it can’t beat the puppet spiders

with their thousand

plus stats, a

nd even in the unlikely event that it

could, we’ve got the ultimate weapon known as the Demon Lord on

our side.

So this is really nothing to worry about.

“Now then! You came to get some grub, right? I’ll cut you a good

deal to make up for all that fuss!”

aaay!

I’m way more interested in that than some random ogre!

Page |

CERTAIN

ADVENTURER

’

OGRE

HUNT

“Thank

you all for gathering here today!”

The guild master’s rough voice echoes through the first floor of the

guild hall.

The entire lobby is packed with adventurers who have gathered from

nearby towns.

They’re all here to participate in the ogre hunt.

After th

e young adventurer Rukusso barely managed to escape with

his life, he spread the word about the dangerous ogre.

Our guild master took action immediately, requesting aid from

nearby guilds and sending out the call for adventurers.

The bait: the magic swords

said to be wielded by the ogre.

Even adventurers have a hard time coming across magic swords.

It’s been announced that whoever defeats the ogre will be given the

swords as a reward.

Naturally, adventurers from all over have come to join the hunt.

Of cours

e, I’m also joining in for a chance at the magic swords, too,

so I can’t really judge the others for it.

“Yo, Gotou. Yer lookin’ more serious than usual. Guess you’re all

fired up to get revenge for your fallen comrades, eh?”

My fellow A

rank adventurer Re

gg throws an overly familiar arm

around my shoulder.

We’re two of the highest

ranking adventurers in town.

Page |

“What makes you think that, huh? I’m just here for the magic

swords, same as you. I ain’t the kinda guy who cares about revenge.”

“Whatever you say.”

I shake his arm off roughly, but Regg doesn’t seem to believe me in

the slightest.

“Listen up, you lot! We’ve got a special request!”

Just as I’m about to snap back at Regg, the guild master’s voice

bellows over us.

“As you know, we’re after a unique ogre

! Its stats are believed to be

higher than an ordinary ogre’s, and it possesses equally unique

unknown skills!”

Though normally rowdy, the adventurers listen to the guild master in

rapt silence.

I don’t want to be the one to interrupt, so I shut my mouth a

s well.

“Now, there are three things you should know about this ogre!”

This information had to have come from the survivor of the advance

team of adventurers.

“First, it has abnormal regenerative ability! It heals itself in a way

that cannot be explained b

y any known skills! We’re told its body will

suddenly emit light, and then its wounds will be gone without a

trace! There are even reports that it might be able to recover its MP

and SP this way as well! One team of adventurers was able to corner

the ogre,

only to be wiped out after this monster’s fearsome

recovery ability overwhelmed them!”

A murmur runs through the crowd of adventurers.

Among them, I see a young man biting his lip.

Rukusso, a promising young adventurer.

Page |

He was the sole survivor of the adv

ance team.

And now, after treating his wounds, he’s joining the quest in order to

avenge his fallen friends.

The rest of his team were friends of mine, too.

“Second! Its combat capabilities can suddenly increase

tremendously! The effects are similar to Men

tal Warfare, but it’s

clearly something more! The boost doesn’t last long, but its stats will

be higher as long as it’s active! There’s no change to its physical

appearance, so you’ll have to trust your gut!”

This doesn’t seem like much of a counterstrateg

y, but that’s how

adventurers do things.

We constantly adapt and play things by ear.

That’s the fundamental rule, or maybe the hidden secret, of being an

adventurer.

“Third! The ogre has magic swords! Two, no less!”

At that, the crowd of adventurers chatte

rs excitedly, and everyone’s

eyes seem to light up.

It’s no surprise, since most of the people here are after those swords.

“Quiet down! We’ve confirmed that the magic swords have fire and

lightning properties! As promised, the two adventurers who

contribu

te most to defeating the ogre will receive these swords!”

A cheer rises throughout the lobby.

Most adventurers can only dream of owning a magic sword one day.

“All right! Now, get out there, you lot!”

As soon as the guild master gives the order, the advent

urers all head

out to find and eliminate the ogre.

Page |

It’s a huge crowd, and all of them are adventurers experienced

enough to be trying for a magic sword of their own.

No matter how strong this ogre might be, I doubt it can simply fight

its way out when up a

gainst a mob like this.

“All right, Gotou! Let’s see which of us comes out with a magic

sword!”

“Yeah, right. It’ll obviously be me.”

Bantering lightly, Regg and I head out to search for the ogre, too.

The magic sword is the main goal.

But I guess I can av

enge the brave folks the ogre killed while I’m at it.

“This isn’t happening.”

How did we arrive at this current situation after that triumphant

charge?

Adventurers flee in every direction.

An explosion coming from below blows the lower halves of several

familiar adventurers right off.

Some who managed to escape that fate were instead pierced by a

flying sword or caught up in the resulting explosion.

Exploding swords? What in the world is happening?

The same scene unfolds all over the battlefield.

“No one

said anything about this!”

Does the monster have more than two magic swords?!

I’ve never heard of an exploding magic sword.

And who would ever expect that it would have so many?

Page |

The ogre that’s creating this hellscape has taken up camp among the

trees, pul

ling out magic swords that are thrust into the ground

around it and throwing them one after another.

With each sword throw, an explosive

boom

echoes, and the number

of adventurers decreases.

A massacre.

This is a massacre.

“Aaaaah!”

Hearing a desperate bat

tle cry, I turn to see Rukusso holding his bow

at the ready.

“You damn fool!”

I curse at him without thinking.

It’s obvious at a glance that Rukusso could never defeat this ogre.

I doubt his arrows will even leave a scratch on that beast.

Besides, how daft

do you have to be to yell out before you attack

someone?!

Rukusso looses an arrow.

But just as I expected, the ogre dodges the shot easily.

Then it pulls a sword from the ground and flings it toward Rukusso in

clear retaliation.

“Tch!”

Clicking my tongue,

I fling myself between Rukusso and the

oncoming magic sword, swinging my own sword up to block it.

“Gah?!”

As soon as my blade deflects the magic sword, it explodes.

Damn, that hurts!

Page |

The shock wave sends me flying backward.

Dammit!

So they explode even i

f you parry them?!

My arms…seem to be intact.

I’m covered in blood, but I survived somehow.

“Urgh…”

But while I’m fine, Rukusso was still close enough to get caught up in

the aftermath of the explosion.

His stats are lower than mine, so even though I’m the

one who took

a direct hit, he seems to worse off.

“You all right?!”

Of course he’s not all right

, I snap at myself as soon as the words

leave my mouth.

Anyone can see that the boy lying on the ground is anything but all

right.

He needs treatment right awa

y, or he’ll die.

“Damn you!”

But as if to prevent that, the ogre raises another sword aloft.

If one more of those exploding swords hits us, even if I survive

somehow, Rukusso is as good as dead!

“Aaaaargh!”

But the thrown sword gets blocked before it reach

es us.

“Regg!”

“Gotou! Take Rukusso and get out of here!”

Page |

Regg deflected the exploding sword just like I did and is now covered

in wounds.

“I’ll buy you some time! Go!”

“Regg! Regg, wait!”

Heedless of my cry, Regg charges toward the ogre.

Another sword fli

es toward him, and Regg disappears in the

explosion of flames.

“Reeeeegg!”

Even as I shout, I gather up Rukusso and start to retreat.

As I glance back one last time, I see the ogre’s sword slicing off

Regg’s head.

“Dammit! Dammit all to hell!”

That day we

tasted utter defeat.

Page |

THE

OGRE

’

MAGIC

SWORDS

What have I done? What am I trying to do?

If you asked me to summarize my old life in a word or two, I wouldn’t

know how to answer.

It’s probably the same for a lot of people, right?

By most standards, I was still pretty

young when my life ended, but I

still don’t think it was short enough to be summed up with a single

word.

But if you asked me whether it was a good life, I don’t think I’d be

able to nod.

“Kyouya, you’re a pretty stubborn guy, aren’t you? Keep that up

and

you’ll miss out on some of the best parts of life.”

The person who told me that was Shun, one of my high school

friends.

One of the only friends I’d made since starting high school, he’d

occasionally whip out sharp observations like this that cut right to

the heart of the matter.

Our other friend, Kanata, was generally better at reading the room,

but Shun had the ability to see right through your expression and

catch of glimpse of the deepest parts of your heart without breaking

a sweat.

I tried my best to

act the part of a quiet, normal kid in high school,

but I guess he saw through that…

Up until high school, I led a pretty rough

and

tumble life.

It all started when I was in kindergarten.

Page |

A bunch of older kids were trying to hog all the playground

equipmen

t, so I tried to chase them off on my own.

We’d been playing on the equipment first until these older kids

suddenly showed up.

I put up such a fight that I made one of the older boys cry.

In the end, a teacher stepped in before the fight escalated any

furt

her.

But then she got mad at me, as if I was the one to blame.

Why did I get in trouble for doing the right thing?

At the time, I didn’t understand at all.

Looking back, though, I get it: Because I picked a fight, the other kids

who were playing with me go

t caught up in it and got hurt.

Some of the kids my own age ended up crying, too.

The ones to blame for starting everything were definitely the older

kids who had shown up and tried to take all the playground

equipment for themselves. I have no doubt about

that.

But was it right for me to pick a fight with those kids?

I’m still not sure.

But I think that was the moment when I first learned that my sense

of right and wrong didn’t necessarily match everyone else’s,

although I only vaguely understood that at t

he time.

After that, I still stuck to my own beliefs about what was right.

Even if that meant using my fists, which it often did.

In elementary school, I stopped bullies.

In middle school, I beat up boys who tried to shake down younger

students for money.

Page |

I could go on and on listing these examples.

The more I acted on what I felt was right, the more others distanced

themselves.

I found myself with fewer and fewer allies and more and more

enemies.

By the time I graduated middle school, people in the neighbo

rhood

had given me the nickname “little ogre.”

I think it was because I was so short at the time.

All I was doing was what I thought was right, but nobody else

seemed to see it that way.

In fact, they all seemed to think I was in the wrong.

So when I start

ed high school, I picked a place that was a little farther

away from my neighborhood and decided to be on my best behavior.

Just like that, my days became almost laughably peaceful.

As long as I turned a blind eye and pretended not to notice certain

things

, it was easy to live as a normal high schooler.

But once in a while, I found myself wondering:

Am I really all right

with this?

I played video games with my friends, stressed out about tests,

thought about what to do after graduation.

As I lived out this

normal high school life, a certain gloominess

settled in the back of my mind.

Just like Shun said, I was being inflexible, missing out on life.

What does it really mean to be “right”?

Which course of action should I take if I want to do the “right” thing?

Page |

Looking back now, I can see all too clearly that worrying about such

things was a luxury.

Once I’ve defeated all the adventurers, I let out a sigh of relief.

At the same time, the strength leaves my body.

I must have built up a considerable amount of fatig

ue without even

realizing it myself.

Unlike the fights in my old life, these life

and

death struggles are

incredibly stressful, as you might expect.

No wonder I find myself slumping to my knees as soon as the battle

is over.

Still sitting on the ground, I

heave a long sigh.

A burned smell surrounds me: not of wood but of flesh.

As well as the metallic stench of blood.

Looking around, I see the corpses of adventurers strewn everywhere.

Holes in the ground, created by the explosions, tell of the ferocity of

he battle that just occurred.

I used up all the magic swords I had on hand.

Now I’ll have to make more.

Weapon Creation. That’s my unique skill.

This skill, which I’ve apparently had from birth, allows me to conjure

up weapons at the cost of MP.

Depending

on the amount of MP used, it can even add special effects

to the weapons.

As a result, I can create what’s known as magic swords.

The first time I noticed that this skill existed was during dinner in the

goblin village.

Page |

There were no forks or knives in the

goblin village, so we normally

ate with our hands.

It happened when the meat from the day’s hunt was on the dinner

table.

It was so tough, I found myself wishing from the bottom of my heart

that I had a knife.

Just like that, a flash of light filled the l

ittle room, and in the next

instant, there was a knife in my hand.

It was a lot shabbier than the kind of knife I’d been picturing, but it

was still unmistakably a knife.

Mysteriously, a knife had just appeared from thin air.

We didn’t know how it had happ

ened until we used the village

chief’s Appraisal Stone, the only one in the village.

The results showed that I had the Weapon Creation skill.

Once we learned that, my daily life changed ever so slightly.

I produced as many weapons as my MP would permit.

l I wanted was to be of some use to the village.

Unfortunately, since I had so little MP at the time, those shabby

knives were about the best I could produce.

And making one of them used up all my MP, so I always had to wait

for it to recover.

Even so, eve

ryone in the village was grateful, since it gave them the

ability to cut up the food they’d previously had to eat with their

hands.

I was so happy that I kept making knives whenever I could.

Page |

Continuously making knives meant that my skill level went up, my

MP pool increased, and so on, until I was able to make a proper

kitchen knife.

I would’ve liked to make forks, too, but as the name implies, Weapon

Creation can’t make anything but weapons.

I was probably able to create table and kitchen knives only becaus

they’re technically usable as weapons.

Small knives, kitchen knives, and later, large knives that could be

used to butcher meat.

After that, I moved on to short swords.

Then I was finally able to make proper long swords.

Gradually, I became able to make

better, stronger weapons.

Until then, the goblins never had the means or resources to craft

good weapons, but that changed dramatically thanks to my Weapon

Creation skill.

Soon, they were able to defeat monsters they could never best

before, greatly expand

ing the area in which they could hunt and

explore.

That meant more supplies of meat and more resources that could be

gathered.

My power was helping everyone in the village.

I was so happy and proud that I devoted myself even more intently

to Weapon Creatio

Thinking back, that was probably the most fulfilled I’ve ever been.

The more weapons I made, the more my skill level increased, which

let me make even better weapons.

And better weapons meant a better life for everyone.

Page |

What could be more worthwhile?

now have far more MP and higher skill levels than I did at the time,

so the amount and quality of weapons I can make doesn’t even

compare to my abilities back then.

I couldn’t add special effects to weapons in the past, either.

I’m growing more and more.

ut that isn’t fulfilling to me at all.

How can I be happy about making weapons used to kill people?

I once made weapons to defeat monsters for the sake of our

livelihood, but now I make weapons to kill humans.

Though I’m making weapons in both cases, there

’s an enormous

difference.

…Then again, I guess a weapon is a weapon.

That much doesn’t change.

However, the way you use it changes its nature profoundly.

I’m using these weapons to kill people now.

I guess that’s the only difference.

That’s not the purpos

e I honed this skill for, but here I am.

I gaze at my surroundings again.

The broken earth.

The remains of adventurers, blown away or cut down.

Some of them are still in one piece, but many more are

unrecognizably mangled.

It was the magic swords I made th

at did this to them.

Land mine swords.

Page |

As the name implies, they’re magic swords with a similar effect to

land mines.

Usually, magic swords use the wielder’s MP to produce effects, so

they’re used continually until they break.

The same is true of the two s

words I use as my personal weapons,

the flame katana and the lightning katana.

But land mine swords are different.

I preload them with plenty of my MP when I create them.

Then all their stored energy is unleashed at once when they explode.

Magic swords are

supposed to be used over a long period of time, so

if you imagine all that power coming out in a single moment, you can

guess how intense that would be.

Still, it’s not as if the power they have is actually all that impressive.

Since they don’t have a wie

lder providing MP like most magic

swords, they become one use only in exchange for an extra bit of

kick.

Considering the amount of MP it costs to make them, regular magic

swords are probably a lot more cost

efficient.

Still, the one

use

only swords are def

initely more powerful, and the

fact that they can be used without spending MP is a huge point in

their favor.

And since I have only two arms and can therefore wield only two

magic swords, the land mine swords are a lot more useful.

Once they’ve been set, t

hey explode on their own as soon as

someone steps on them.

All I have to do is create the land mine swords and set them in the

ground.

Page |

There’s only one of me, so obviously I’m at a disadvantage whenever

I’m outnumbered. That’s why I developed the land mine

swords.

I can set them up as traps to help level the playing field.

The best part is, the more magic swords I make with Weapon

Creation, the better my skill level gets.

With a higher skill level, I can create even better magic swords.

That means it’s in m

y best interest to create as many swords as I can,

but like I said earlier, I can wield only two swords at a time.

Even if I insist on equipping myself with more, like you might in a

game or manga, it’s not like the extras will do me any good.

And since I’

d prefer not to let the magic swords I make go to waste,

creating one

use swords that can be used from a distance was the

perfect solution.

By that same logic, I also developed exploding swords for throwing

along with the land mine swords.

These aren’t tha

t different from the land mine swords, but the most

attractive feature is that I get to choose who to attack and when.

At first, I thought I’d try making guns or something, but it seems that

my Weapon Creation skill can’t make modern weapons.

Blades and bl

udgeons are no problem, but I can’t make anything that

uses gunpowder.

So I developed exploding swords as the next best thing, and they

turned out to be incredibly powerful.

Since they’re swords, my Swordsmanship skill boosts their attack

power, and my Thr

ow skill increases the accuracy and impact, so

being hit by one already does a lot of damage.

And since they explode on top of that, they’ve got more raw power

than even the land mine swords.

Page |

In fact, they’re even more lethal than guns.

The only difficulty

is that, unlike land mine swords, I have to actually

throw them myself, so I can’t use them if the target is outside of my

throwing range.

But I can make up for that by using them in combination with land

mine swords.

I place land mind swords all around m

e to make it difficult for

enemies to get too close, and if they manage to do so, I can just

throw an exploding sword at them.

The land mines create an invisible wall of defense, and the exploding

swords are my battery.

In a way, I guess that makes me a li

ving fortress.

Still, both land mine swords and exploding swords are consumable

resources.

After they’ve been used once, that’s it.

My land mine sword defenses and my exploding sword offenses both

have a limit.

When all is said and done, the only thing I c

an always rely on is

myself and my own two swords.

The flame katana and the lightning katana.

They’re real, proper magic swords, unlike the one

use

only land mine

and exploding swords.

Since they’re shaped like katanas, maybe it would be more accurate

to c

all them magic katanas.

Just as the names imply, they’re imbued with the powers of fire and

lightning respectively.

Page |

If I channel my MP into them, the blades become enveloped in flame

and lightning, explosively raising their attack power.

They can shoot fir

e and lightning as well, allowing me to keep

enemies away at midrange.

On top of that, just equipping them raises the wielder’s defense,

granting resistance to fire and lightning, and even increases and

heals HP and MP.

It’s not as effective as skills, but

since they decrease damage and

help with healing, they’re incredibly useful for long battles.

And since they can even automatically repair damage to their own

blades, they’re virtually indestructible, as long as they aren’t

completely destroyed in a singl

e attack.

Making swords with this many useful effects was difficult even for

me.

I’m extremely proud of them.

I even used the Naming skill to give them names, enhancing their

effects further.

The Naming skill gives a name to objects or living beings, which

improves their effects, raises their stats, and so on.

Naming living things can also give the namer influence over the

named, so if a living creature doesn’t have a name, giving them one

can place them under your power.

The naming alone doesn’t have that

much effect, but if used in

combination with other skills, you can even control the named living

thing completely.

Which is how I…

An awful memory comes to mind.

I shake it off, trying to regain my composure.

Page |

After they formed such a large

scale hunting pa

rty, I doubt the

humans will give up so easily.

In fact, now that they know that such a dangerous monster exists,

they’ll probably get even more desperate to defeat me.

They’re not wrong to think that I’m a danger to humans, so I can’t

blame them for makin

g that call.

Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t find it aggravating.

Anyone would be angry if they were attacked like that.

As long as they’re going to keep coming after me, I’ll make

preparations and be ready for them.

I’m not going to try to reach an under

standing with humans now.

Humans can’t be trusted.

In fact, I’d like to wipe them all out.

Dark emotions start to well up inside me.

The taste of blood fills my mouth.

At first, I thought I must have clenched my teeth so hard that I bit my

own cheek, but t

hen I realize that I’m biting one of the adventurer’s

corpses.

The tastes of blood and flesh in my mouth trigger old memories,

bringing back the rage I felt back then.

All that fury threatens to take over my mind, but I shake my head

rapidly, fighting it o

ff.

Not good.

I have to remain calm.

It’s all right. I’m fine.

I haven’t lost my composure.

Page |

I have to stay calm and prepare for the humans’ next attack.

Tearing the dead adventurer to pieces with my mouth, I start

thinking up my strategy to kill the next h

umans who come after me.

Page |

THE

OLD

MAN IN

MOURNING

A heavy silence permeates the rocking carriage.

Even an old man s

uch as myself would not venture to make a joke in

this atmosphere.

The beautiful scenery of the imperial capital unfolds just outside the

carriage window, but inside, the mood is dark and melancholic.

But this much is understandable, considering our destin

ation.

Seated across from me, Tiva closes his eyes and bows his head

grimly.

Tiva was in charge of leading the imperial army’s attack on Sariella in

order to support the Ohts Kingdom, but thanks to the attack on

Keren County by those spiders I was followin

g, that invasion is no

longer possible. Instead, we are returning home.

Tiva was investigating something else, too: the recent cases of

children being kidnapped.

These abductions are happening not just in the empire but all over

the world, and Tiva is in c

harge of leading that investigation.

At first, people suspected someone was capturing children and

selling them as slaves.

But now, the scope has become even bigger.

The current theory is that a sizable organization is undertaking these

crimes for a greate

r purpose.

In order to crush this organization and rescue the kidnapped

children, Tiva led an imperial army to chase after the kidnappers.

However, the search has been less than fruitful.

Page |

They located a hideout of the organization, but the only people they

were able to capture were hired thugs.

There was no sign of whoever is running the organization and no

further leads hinting at its true purpose.

If even this large

scale investigation turned up neither hide nor hair

of the leader, they must be quite form

idable.

And now, we are headed to the home of one of the families

victimized by these kidnappers.

A mother whose baby was kidnapped three years ago.

As you may gather from the state of our carriage, it is not good

tidings we carry.

No, it is grim news inde

ed.

However, it is not the child’s death we must report.

“Sir Ronandt, I do not think you need accompany me inside.”

Unable to bear the silence, Tiva speaks.

He has said the same thing countless times since before we entered

the carriage.

However, my answe

r is the same.

“How many times must I repeat myself? It is my burden to bring this

news.”

“But

—

”

“Enough!”

My sharp tone silences Tiva at least.

I am the one who brought this information back to the capital to

begin with.

I will not let anyone else bear th

is burden.

Page |

Tiva stays silent, perhaps sensing my determination.

The carriage proceeds through a quiet aristocratic neighborhood,

finally stopping in front of one of the mansions.

For a noble family’s home, it is rather small.

That in itself is nothing unus

ual.

However, this mansion’s overall appearance separates it from the

rest.

The garden is in ruins, and the house itself is damaged and dirty.

It’s obvious at a glance that it hasn’t been properly tended to in

years.

The place is in such a terrible state t

hat the entire grounds seem to

give off a dark atmosphere, even in the middle of the day.

A listless butler stands waiting for us in front of this desolate house.

“Welcome. Thank you for coming.”

The butler bows respectfully.

Tiva and I bow briefly in retu

rn, then follow the butler inside.

Unlike the outside, the inside of the mansion has at least been

minimally cared for.

The relative lack of furnishings makes it seem a bit dreary, but it has

certainly been cleaned quite well.

And yet, the bleak, dark atmo

sphere remains.

The butler brings us to the parlor, where the master of the house is

waiting.

“Thank you for coming today.”

The lady we’ve come to see bows her head automatically.

Page |

The practiced gesture is just the same as I remember it last, but her

appear

ance has changed drastically.

She looks…gaunt.

She used to be an impressive beauty even by the imperial capital’s

standards, but now she’s a shadow of her former self.

Her skin has lost its luster, her body has grown weak and emaciated,

and she has aged fa

r beyond her years.

Having seen her in her prime, the effect is shocking.

Knowing that I have to tell her something that will only drive her

deeper into despair, even I feel hesitation.

Now I understand why Tiva kept repeating himself.

He was trying to sto

p me for my sake, but perhaps most of all, he

wanted to prevent putting these people through any further

suffering.

But still, I have no choice.

This is something she must know.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sir Ronandt.”

“Quite.”

Normally, I should r

espond that she’s looking well, but I cannot bring

myself to tell such a blatant lie.

Given my uncharacteristically hard demeanor and Tiva’s glum

silence, the woman has probably already guessed that we’ve come

bringing bad news.

Her already pallid face gro

ws a shade paler.

“I shall get straight to the point.”

Page |

Once we’ve finished our greetings and a lady

waiting has brought

us tea, I cut to the chase.

“Sir Ronandt…”

“No good can come of beating around the bush, Tiva.”

Tiva is clearly signaling that I’m mo

ving too fast, but in this case, I

think it best not to hesitate.

The lady of this house is a smart woman.

No doubt she has some sense of why I requested that we meet

today.

If I drag out the conversation now, I will only cause her more anxiety.

Sooner or

later, I must tell her the truth.

So it’s for the best to do it as quickly as possible.

“Buirimus is dead.”

At first, she doesn’t react to my blunt words.

Or rather, I should say she

can’t

react.

She freezes up without so much as a blink, leaving Tiva and

I to hold

our collective breath in silence.

Time passes this way, until eventually the woman’s eyes begin to

waver.

Then, as if the meaning of my words has finally sunk in, she

undergoes a quiet but drastic change.

Looking upward, she covers her face with

both her hands and begins

to sob with a muffled voice.

Tiva and I sit in silence still, watching over her quietly.

As the woman weeps, I think back on my memories of Buirimus.

Truth be told, I didn’t interact with Buirimus very often.

Page |

He was a talented sum

moner, one of the prominent masters in the

empire.

As such, we had occasion to meet a few times, but that was true of

most any of the influential people in the empire.

We weren’t close enough that I could call him a friend, and while he

seemed to respect m

e as a higher

ranked mage, I doubt Buirimus felt

particularly close with me either.

One could say that we were more than acquaintances but not yet

friends.

We would have had no relationship of note at all, until that incident.

The incident when we encounte

red that great being in the Great

Elroe Labyrinth and found ourselves fighting for our lives together.

This was four years ago, when Buirimus and I led an expedition of

elite troops into the Great Elroe Labyrinth in order to locate a

mysterious monster tha

t had been sighted within.

According to eyewitnesses, it emitted such a dreadful aura that it

was clear at a glance that this monster was a force to be reckoned

with.

At the same time, there were also rumors that its actions showed a

surprising level of in

telligence, so the summoner Buirimus was sent

in the hopes that he might be able to tame the monster.

Of course, I was accompanying them in the event that the monster

was indeed so evil that it needed to be destroyed.

But the mission ended in disaster: exc

ept for Buirimus and me, that

great being wiped out the entire force.

At the time, I had too much confidence in my powers.

Page |

I was convinced that surely no monster could ever be stronger than I,

even though I knew that legendary monsters existed, well known

beings too powerful for any human to face.

It was this hubris of mine that brought about that tragedy in the

labyrinth.

If I had not burned that great being’s nest so rashly, perhaps the

massacre could have been avoided.

I know there is no use in dwelli

ng on such things, yet I cannot help

but think of it.

Now, if events had ended there, I would still feel regret, but I doubt I

would feel so indebted toward Buirimus.

Certainly, I would still feel the guilt of letting his subordinates be

annihilated, but p

erhaps we still could have drank together as fellow

survivors.

However, this was not to be.

The higher

ups of the empire decided to place all the blame for our

terrible loss squarely on Buirimus.

That great being, who is now known as the Nightmare of the

abyrinth, ventured into the wider world after our encounter and

began to wreak havoc.

Rumors spread that it had left the labyrinth because our party had

provoked it.

I do not know if this is truly the reason that great being went outside.

But even if not,

it was very unfortunate timing.

As soon as the Nightmare left the labyrinth, it destroyed an Ohts

fortress, then took up residence in Sariella

—

Ohts’s sworn enemy

—

and began to help them.

Notably, Ohts is an ally of the empire.

Page |

If the empire took actions tha

t had a negative effect on their ally,

they couldn’t possibly ignore it.

Someone, somehow, had to take the blame.

And that responsibility fell to Buirimus.

He and I were the only two survivors.

And none of the higher

ranked officers were willing to step fo

rward

and shoulder the blame.

Normally, that would mean that both of us would have been held

responsible, but my position prevented this.

I am the empire’s leading court mage. In other words, I am the

strongest mage in the empire, and some even say I am th

e strongest

human mage in the world.

Perhaps I, too, believed that before I met that great being, but now

such an empty title brings me no joy.

But for the empire, it carries a great deal of meaning.

They can use my name and power to intimidate other natio

ns and

keep them in check.

Since the conflict with demons has quieted down, the Renxandt

Empire has lost some of its prestige.

The sword

king whose skills had earned him the reputation as a god

of swordsmanship suddenly disappeared, and without the threat

demons hovering over them, the government officials grew corrupt.

Dishonorable nobles began to flaunt their power, and even the

better ones compared the sitting sword

king to his predecessor and

found him lacking.

And of course, if there is discord with

in the empire, then those

outside it will begin to lose their faith in its strength.

Page |

Thus, if they wanted to avoid harming their increasingly tenuous

position, the officials of the empire could not afford to sacrifice me,

one of their precious trump cards.

Following this logic, those in power made it the official story that I

was not involved in the Great Elroe Labyrinth incident.

Thus, though the blame should have fallen on both of us, it landed

on Buirimus’s shoulders alone.

I was given the sentence of ho

use arrest, scarcely more than a slap

on the wrist, while Buirimus was sent away to the Mystic Mountains

in the northwest, a much crueler fate.

The Mystic Mountains is an unforgiving mountain range on the

border, populated by countless powerful monsters.

t’s such a dangerous and rarely explored place that it’s on par with

the Great Elroe Labyrinth, so being stationed there is essentially a

death sentence.

Yet, Buirimus accepted this fate and left without voicing any protest

about the decision.

Even knowing

that his wife had finally given birth to their first child.

“This is quite the stroke of bad luck. I’ve just learned that my child

has been born, yet I must be in this dark cavern without even seeing

the child’s face.”

I remember Buirimus’s crooked smile

as he said this in the Great

Elroe Labyrinth.

There was bitterness in his words, but it was eclipsed by the

optimism in his eyes.

The face of a father excited to meet his child.

Page |

When we faced the master’s fearsome attack, and he bought me

enough time to ac

tivate Teleport, I have no doubt he was thinking

that he refused to die before seeing his newborn child’s face.

And survive he did, only to be sent away to face certain death once

again.

As soon as his treatment was finished, no less.

Which meant that he n

ever got to meet his child before leaving.

On top of being denied the moment he had so looked forward to,

even if he did return from his dangerous posting, he would still carry

the burden of being the one officially responsible for a failed

expedition.

And

there was no guarantee that he would come back alive at all.

From his wife’s perspective, her husband had returned with near

fatal wounds, only to be sent away to his possible death without

even the chance for a reunion first.

I can only imagine the heart

ache she felt.

And part of the blame lies with me, too.

I allowed the leadership to place the blame on Buirimus, and still I

live free of consequences.

Of course, in deference to that guilt, I wanted to do all I could to

support the wife he left behind.

“T

hank you, but the thought alone is more than enough.”

When I ignored my house arrest and visited this mansion, his wife

politely declined my offer.

“I have always known there was a possibility that something might

happen to my husband someday. I married a

soldier, after all.”

She offered me a fleeting smile.

Page |

Though she was putting on a brave face, even her makeup could not

hide the redness around her eyes.

“He did everything in his power to come home, I know. And since he

came back alive this time, I’m sure

he’ll be back again.”

First she claimed to be resigned, but this statement of hope said

otherwise.

I know not how to describe my feelings in that moment, except

perhaps embarrassment.

At the time, I was fully prepared for her to curse or shout at me.

But

I never imagined she wouldn’t think to blame me at all.

She had no thoughts to spare for anyone but her husband.

I didn’t occupy even a fraction of her thoughts.

I had assumed in my egotism that my existence would be a matter of

great import to her, that s

he would blame me for what happened to

Buirimus.

But in her eyes, I didn’t matter one inkling.

Somehow, between this and my fateful encounter with that great

being, I was becoming painfully aware that I had thought too highly

of myself.

Perhaps her concern

for her husband, Buirimus, and their newborn

child left no room to contemplate me at all.

Either way, it was clear that I was insignificant to her.

Though I was called humanity’s strongest mage, I was keenly aware

that to her, at least, I was nothing more

than a trifle.

Thus, I became aware of my own ego and felt embarrassed.

In the end, despite his wife’s refusal, I found ways to help her

anyway.

Page |

I felt my mind could not be at ease if I did nothing. Perhaps it was

more for my own sake than for Buirimus or

his wife.

I also reached out to all my connections to find ways to help the

troops in the Mystic Mountains, where Buirimus was being sent.

The rest was up to Buirimus himself.

But while he was away, another tragedy occurred.

The kidnappings.

Buirimus’s ow

n child was among those who were being kidnapped all

across the world.

Tiva led a special operation to try to track down the kidnappers, but

to this day, there has been no progress.

“I apologize that you had to see me in such a state.”

Buirimus’s wife’s vo

ice is still shaking as she pulls herself together to

apologize.

Tiva and I quickly assure her that she has nothing to apologize for.

After her streak of ill fortune, there was no doubt that her heart had

reached its breaking point.

And then this terrible

news.

I could only imagine her feelings.

“What…happened to him?”

“We don’t yet know the details. But when I went to check in on him,

I found that his entire troop had been wiped out.”

Due to certain circumstances, I have been demoted to a station at a

fort

ress in the north.

It is relatively close to the Mystic Mountains, so I received

information about Buirimus’s squadron there.

Page |

When I learned that their regular communications had suddenly

ceased, I quickly went to investigate, myself, only to find utter

struction.

“Though it’s not certain, we believe that the cause was a unique ogre

that appeared around the same time.”

Buirimus was highly skilled, so there were not many monsters that

could wipe out his entire troop so easily.

And around that time, word ha

d just started to spread of a powerful

ogre that had killed several adventurers.

Surely this was no coincidence.

“It’s been decided that I will soon lead a special force to find and

defeat this ogre. Though it may be small comfort, I will be sure to

avenge

your husband.”

“And I will do everything in my power to get your child back home as

soon as I possibly can,” Tiva promised.

“…Thank you.”

Buirimus’s wife bowed her head weakly.

“Do you think it’ll be all right?”

As we sat in the carriage on our way back f

rom the mansion, Tiva

stared out the window.

He didn’t specify a topic, but no doubt he was referring to Buirimus’s

wife.

“Who can say?”

Even I do not know the answer.

Try as I might, I cannot hope to understand the feelings of a woman

who just learned her

husband has died and whose child has been

kidnapped.

Page |

It is not my place to carelessly say,

She’ll be all right

“That depends on your work, good Tiva.”

Some say that a mother regains her vigor if her lost child is returned,

so perhaps Buirimus’s wife, too

, could recover if things went well.

“You must now face this with all your strength.”

Tiva nods heavily.

Of course, it’s not as though I think he was ever handling this

investigation half

heartedly.

Tiva has always been a hard worker, and he has his own re

asons for

taking this case especially seriously.

“I swear that I will bring those children back alive. I swear it.”

His voice contains an edge that he can’t quite disguise.

It goes beyond righteous fury toward the kidnappers to a deeper,

more personal rage

You see, Tiva has a son.

Or perhaps I should say

had

His son had a wife, and they had even given him a grandchild.

The babe was born around the same time of year as Buirimus’s own

son.

It was his son’s first child and Tiva’s first grandchild.

Happiness

beyond compare.

But after one fateful day, his son and his family were gone, never to

return.

Their carriage had gotten into an accident.

However, in a later investigation, it was discovered that the tragedy

was no accident at all but deliberately engineer

ed by someone.

Page |

100

In fact, the methods strongly resembled the modus operandi of the

kidnapping organization.

Had they targeted Tiva’s grandchild and accidentally killed all three?

Or did they have some other reason?

That I do not know, but it means that Tiva

lost his son, daughter

law, and grandchild all at once.

Thus, this man has a very powerful reason for hunting down the

kidnapping organization.

I’m sure he feels just as strongly about it as Buirimus’s wife.

“I shall assist you to the best of my ability

.”

Now that it’s come to this, I cannot simply sit by in silence.

I have a dreadful premonition about this organization.

A feeling that if they’re left alone, it might lead to something truly

terrible.

“…Even after your demotion?”

Tiva looks at me blandly.

Why, you little…!

I scowl at the low blow.

For reasons entirely beyond my control, I’ve been sent to the north

at present.

In fact, I did not have permission to be in the capital today, so I

cannot move freely.

“Harrumph! To send me away for such a ridicu

lous reason!”

“No, I think it’s a natural punishment for nearly killing a hero. In fact,

you should be pleased that you were not executed.”

Page |

101

“That was just a trifling amount of training!

Nearly killing

is an

outright exaggeration!”

The reason for my demotio

n is simply that I was training Julius, my

first apprentice.

He demanded that I take him under my wing, so train him I did.

However, Julius’s homeland and the so

called Word of God religion

objected to my methods, and the Renxandt Empire unfortunately

agre

ed, so I was banished to a far

off northern post for doing nothing

wrong in the slightest.

I suppose even the empire couldn’t cover for me if other nations

were angry with me.

But why would they get so angry about a small bit of training?!

“No, that could

hardly be called training. By anyone else’s standards,

that was torture, understand? You must realize, Sir Ronandt, that

your idea of common sense does not match the rest of the world.”

“Hmph!”

This is ridiculous!

I just hit him with the smallest amount of

magic to build up his

resistance!

It makes no sense whatsoever to punish me for such a thing!

“Very well, then. I shall just do whatever I can. Starting with avenging

Buirimus’s death.”

Sitting in the carriage, my thoughts were already on the ogre that

lled Buirimus.

Page |

102

’

STUFFED

Right n

ow, I’m locked in a desperate battle.

Things aren’t looking good.

It’s been a long time since I faced a predicament like this.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up!

I will win!

No matter what it takes!

“U…urgh!”

“Miss, you don’t need to force yoursel

f to finish it, all right? If you’re

full, it’s okay to leave some on the plate.”

That’s nice of you, lady, but there’s no way in hell!

I refuse to leave a speck of food on this plate!

That’s right. I’m eating my lunch in the inn’s mess hall right now.

And

eating, and eating, and eating!

“Hurk!”

“See? You’ve clearly reached your limit, young lady! You’ve been at it

for almost an hour now, but if you can’t eat it, then that’s that.”

Delicious food is right before my eyes.

As you may have guessed from the pre

sence of those adventurer

assholes from earlier, this inn is for the general public, so it’s not

fancy like the kind of place nobles might stay.

And all the food definitely emphasizes quantity over quality!

Page |

103

Bam! Tons of bread!

Boom! Tons of veggies!

Pow! T

ons of meat!

And so on.

But this lady must be a pretty good cook, because even though the

food is humble, it’s also surprisingly flavorful and hearty.

That’s right. It’s delicious.

It’s delicious, but I can’t quite finish it!

“Urrrrgh!”

I groan despite mys

elf.

How can I possibly leave this delicious food unfinished?

No! Noooo! I won’t do it!

But my stomach has reached its limit, my throat is closing up shop,

and my mouth refuses to take another bite.

My body won’t listen to me. I’ve been betrayed!

What insa

nity is this?!

How can I allow such a terrible tragedy?

I can’t, obviously!

“Wehhh…”

“Miss?! Please don’t cry, miss! There, there, it’s all right. Okay?”

The nice lady comforts me, but that doesn’t change the reality that I

can’t finish the food in front o

f me.

The greatest misfortune that’s befallen me since becoming a god is

the fact that I can’t eat as much as I used to.

Battle power?

Page |

104

That’s not nearly as important as food!

Until now, with my monster body and Satiation skill, I could eat way

more than yo

u would think possible just from looking at me.

Thanks to that, it’s been ages since I last experienced the feeling of

being too stuffed to eat another bite.

I just ate and drank as much as I wanted.

But now that I’m a god, the tiniest amount of food makes

me totally

full!

Thinking about it, it’s pretty obvious that without the Satiation skill,

I’d be able to eat only the same amount as an average person.

If anything, Hiiro Wakaba’s body always had a small appetite, so I

need only about half the amount of f

ood most people might eat to

feel full.

Yeah. If I remember right, cup ramen or a convenience

store bento

box was enough to satisfy me.

Depending on which kind, sometimes I couldn’t even finish the

whole bento box.

So since my current body is based on that

, it’s no wonder I suddenly

have a small appetite.

My heart wants to keep eating, but my body refuses to accept it.

Do you have any idea how awful that feels?!

Even now, no matter how much I want to finish the food in front of

me, just looking at it makes

my body want to puke a little bit!

Uuurgh, this is the worst.

What did I do to deserve this, God?

Okay, I know I’ve done plenty of bad stuff, but still.

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105

Not to mention,

god

in this world mostly refers to that awful you

know

who…

Unreal.

Absolutely, positiv

ely unreal…

Utterly heartbroken, I push the cold food in front of me over to Sael,

who’s sitting across from me.

Sael has already demolished a giant plate of her own, but like most

spider monsters, she has the Satiation skill, so she can eat a lot more

tha

n you’d expect.

Even though her actual body is a palm

size spider, the skill allows her

to eat several times her own body weight in no time flat.

She may have had the same meal I did, but I bet she can still finish

my leftovers.

In fact, it’s been a while

now since Sael finished eating, so I bet she’s

already getting hungry again.

Ugh, to think that I of all people would have to relinquish my food to

someone else!

Sael looks at my face, then my plate of food, then at the chef lady,

then back at me and my fo

od…

Uh, don’t get stuck in an infinite loop, okay?

Just eat it already, dammit!

Sael doesn’t seem to be able to escape the loop, so I just shove some

food into her mouth.

Why are these little girls each so unique anyway?

Shouldn’t they all be more like the

ir mom, the Demon Lord?

Since she made them with the Egg

Laying skill, they’re basically just

inferior clones of her, y’know.

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106

So why does she produce such weirdos?

Yeah, I said it. Weirdos.

They’re weird, okay?

Except for maybe Ael. Thank goodness for her.

Sometimes I feel like Ael’s the only one holding the puppet posse

together.

For a second, it occurs to me that there might’ve been more

individuals like Ael among the puppet spiders I killed a long time ago.

When the Demon Lord and I were still at war, I

killed no less than

seven puppet spiders.

The four who are around now are the only survivors from that battle.

When I think about it that way, my relationship with the idiot who’s

stuffing her face mindlessly with food in front of me (also known as

Sael) i

s actually pretty complicated.

Luckily, all three of them except for Ael are idiots, meaning they

don’t really think about that kind of thing and warmed up to me

pretty quickly, but I bet Ael and the Demon Lord herself had some

thoughts about it when we fi

rst teamed up.

I’m guessing Ael just calculated that it was in her own best interest to

accept me quickly.

In that regard, she’s definitely the talented eldest sister.

It’s entirely possible that some of the other puppet spiders I killed

were just as talen

ted as Ael or maybe even more so.

If that was the case, it might’ve been easier to keep these idiots in

check.

I imagine it for a moment.

Picture this: a total of ten little girls milling about.

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107

Each of them acts on their own, so Ael just throws in the tow

el and

lets them do whatever they want.

What is this supposed to be, a preschool?!

…Okay.

I hate to say it, but I’m glad there are only four of them.

Since there are only three problem children, Ael can handle them

just fine.

Yeah. I just gotta stay positi

ve.

Sael looks at me in confusion as she demolishes the last of my food.

Well, since she’s a puppet spider, her face doesn’t actually change,

but I can pretty much tell at this point how she’s feeling anyway.

Looking at Sael’s blank expression, I shrug and

pat her on the head.

That night, the Demon Lord returns with a troubled look on her face.

The baby bloodsucker looks furious, too.

Something must have happened.

“I have two pieces of bad news,” the Demon Lord begins once we’ve

all gathered together.

Unlik

e the baby bloodsucker, she doesn’t quite look murderous, but

her brow is furrowed deeply.

The Demon Lord is usually pretty easygoing, so when she’s this

serious, it usually means trouble.

“First, it looks like we’ll have to stay in this town for a few day

s.”

I tilt my head in confusion.

Our plan was to gather supplies for crossing the Mystic Mountains

and leave right away, since this is the best time of year to make the

journey.

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108

This world does have seasons, even if they’re not as dramatically

different as

in Japan.

Right now, it’s technically summer.

It’s kind of chilly outside, but still.

The Mystic Mountains are so cold that they’re covered in snow all

year long.

If we don’t cross while the weather is even slightly warmer than

usual, it’s gonna be a roug

h trip.

Before my deification, we might’ve been able to push through even

in winter, but now I’m way too much of a burden for something so

adventurous.

Because of me, we can’t use the route we originally planned: the

shortest way across that the Demon Lord

took on her way here.

I mean, we’re talking hundreds of miles of mountain, y’know?

I can’t even stroll across a flat plain without passing out!

Therefore, our new plan is to wind through the gaps between the

mountains, avoiding high elevations as much as

we can.

It’s still gonna be tough, but it’s the best we can do.

This roundabout route is gonna take way longer, and considering the

possibility of unforeseen occurrences, it’s in our best interest to

leave as soon as possible.

If we miss this chance, we’ll

have to hang out in this town for a whole

year until summer comes around again.

So why would we be staying in town any longer than necessary?

“The road we’re supposed to take is under a blockade. Apparently

some super

evil monster has appeared, see. It’s

an ogre, but it’s

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109

killed a bunch of adventurers already, so they’re saying it’s too

dangerous to leave town. What awful timing, right?”

That makes sense, unfortunately.

The lady who made me lunch mentioned something about a

dangerous ogre, too, come to thi

nk of it.

For the safety of the townspeople, it’s only natural that they

wouldn’t want anyone to go in the direction where a dangerous

monster’s lurking about.

But still, considering that the Demon Lord’s strong enough to crush

some stupid ogre with one fi

nger, it’s a bit pointless to insist that she

not leave town.

“So we’re stuck here until they get rid of that ogre. The imperial

army’s apparently putting together a whole big squad to take care of

it, so we’ll just have to wait it out till then.”

Gotcha.

So we have to chill out in this town for a few days until they take care

of that ogre, huh?

And wait a sec, they’re bringing in the army?

Guess this ogre must be stronger than I thought.

I’m sure the Demon Lord could still beat it with one punch, though.

n fact, wouldn’t it be faster for her to go take care of it herself?

She’s technically got an adventurer permit, so why doesn’t she just

beat the ogre as an adventurer or whatever?

“Why don’t you just defeat the ogre yourself, Miss Ariel?”

Ooh, looks like

Vampy was thinking the same thing.

“Hrmmm. We don’t wanna stand out here, so I’d like to leave that as

a last resort. Plus, there’s supposed to be some famous mage and

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110

swordsman in the army that’s coming, so we wouldn’t want to pick a

fight with them.”

The

Demon Lord doesn’t seem to want in on the whole ogre

hunting

biz.

I can’t imagine that the army would be upset if the Demon Lord beat

the ogre first, and even if they were, I’m sure she’s strong enough to

handle them.

But it’d still be a pain for sure, an

d in the worst

case scenario, it

could slow down our trip through the Mystic Mountains even

further.

Since the imperial army’s supposedly gonna beat this ogre without

her help, I guess she’d rather just wait until they take care of it for

her.

We’re probab

ly only delaying our departure by a few days, so it

shouldn’t affect our journey anyway.

If it were a few weeks, that’d be another story.

“So we’re going to sit tight until the ogre gets beaten. Merazophis,

be careful not to draw any attention, all right?”

“Of course.”

Mera nods.

If anyone was going to cause a problem here, it’d be Mera.

Sael and I do run the risk of being spotted as monsters, but that just

means we have to stay out of sight as much as possible.

As a natural shut

in, I have no problem with

staying inside, and I

don’t wanna go out into the sun anyway.

And Sael wouldn’t go outside unless she was specifically told to do

so.

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111

But Mera’s situation is different.

He and the baby bloodsucker are vampires.

The little one’s a Progenitor, so her title c

ancels out normal vampire

weaknesses, like sunlight and needing to periodically drink blood.

But Mera doesn’t have that advantage.

He takes a small amount of damage if sunlight touches him, and he

has to drink blood occasionally.

The latter is the real mon

key wrench. It means Mera has to attack

people and drink their blood.

And not just any blood. Human blood is by far the most effective.

The blood of monsters like us gives him only enough energy to hold

him over temporarily.

Since Mera used to be a human,

drinking human blood is the only

way to keep him going, for whatever reason.

Okay, I don’t understand the specifics, but basically it means he has

to drink human blood to get the results he needs.

Which means he’s been attacking humans every night to drink

their

blood whenever we visit a town, but now the Demon Lord’s saying

he has to cut that out.

We wouldn’t want to draw the imperial army’s attention.

“Fortunately, I have some in reserve, so I’ll be all right.”

Mera’s not talking about carrying around bot

tles of blood or

anything like that.

Since his Vampire skill has leveled up, he gained the ability to stash

the blood he drinks inside his body.

He can gradually stockpile any excess blood, so now he can go for a

short while without drinking blood if he ab

solutely needs to.

Page |

“So yeah, that’s the first problem, but it’s not super

serious. It’s the

other problem that’s kind of the big one.”

The Demon Lord crosses her arms, still looking serious.

For some reason, though, something about her expression says that

she’s not quite convinced.

What in the world happened?

“To sum it up, we just got attacked by a group of elves.”

The Demon Lord is saying that our greatest enemy of all, the elves,

has just come after us.

After two years of unnerving silence, Potimas has

made an

assassination attempt.

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113

CHANCE

ENCOUNTER WITH A

NEMESIS

t happened earlier this afternoon.

“Huh? The road is blocked off?”

Miss Ariel’s voice echoes through the guild.

There aren’t many people here, and it’s not particularly large, so

Miss Ariel’s voice is pretty clear.

“I’m afraid so. An extremely dangerous mo

nster has appeared near

the road up ahead. Until the monster has been dealt with, the road is

closed. We truly apologize for the inconvenience.”

The receptionist bows politely.

This place is an adventurers’ guild.

Adventurers are essentially professionals

whose job is to defeat

monsters, and this guild is where they gather.

Monsters have a tendency to aggressively attack humans, so in order

to ensure the safety of the town and major roads, there have to be

people to fight those monsters.

That’s where advent

urers come in.

In this world, even the smallest village or town has to have

adventurers, who are generally well respected by society.

This town is no exception, which is why they have this adventurers’

guild.

A single step out of town is where the realm of

monsters begins.

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114

In addition to hunting monsters, adventurers also protect ordinary

civilians who have business outside town.

Which is why you can never have too many.

“Ahhh. Is that why there are so few people here?”

Ariel looks around and nods.

A town t

his size should have a healthy population of adventurers, yet

the guild is almost entirely devoid of people.

They must all be out hunting for that monster right now.

“No, erm…”

The woman trails off vaguely.

Peering at her, Miss Ariel frowns as a thought co

mes to mind.

“Don’t tell me… Have this town’s adventurers been more or less

wiped out?”

““Huh?”” the receptionist and I utter in unison.

I shoot a nervous look at the receptionist, but she isn’t paying me

any mind, just staring at Ariel with a pale face.

udging by her expression, it’s all too evident that Miss Ariel’s guess

was correct.

I suppose the receptionist and I were surprised for different reasons:

I was surprised because Miss Ariel’s words came out of nowhere, and

the receptionist was surprised be

cause she’d guessed the truth.

“I see. Well, that’s unfortunate.” Ariel sounds somewhat detached or

maybe annoyed. “I guess there’s nothing we can do about the

blockade, then. So are they actually going to defeat that monster?”

“Er, yes. The army is being

mobilized and should be on its way.”

“An army? Not adventurers from other towns?” Ariel asks.

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115

“Ha, not a chance. No adventurers are ever gonna beat that thing.

Besides, the only adventurers left around here right now are from

other towns. They were too lat

e to join the hunting party, so lucky

for them, they got to live.”

Instead of the receptionist, one of the adventurers answers Miss

Ariel’s question.

One of the few adventurers in this mostly deserted guild.

“Mr. Gotou…,” the receptionist murmurs somewhat

pityingly.

The man approaching us with a lopsided grin must be named Gotou.

And judging by the receptionist’s attitude and the way he speaks as if

he’s seen the monster, he must be one of the few survivors of the

wiped

out adventurers.

“Nice to meet you lo

vely ladies. The name’s Gotou. Might not look it,

but I’m an A

rank adventurer. Though that title ain’t worth much

after I ran away from that ogre with my tail between my legs.”

Gotou shrugs bitterly.

Looking closely, I see that his eyes are red around the

edges.

He must have had close friends among the adventurers who were

killed.

“Yeah? So what’s an A

rank adventurer like you doing here now?”

Rather harshly, Miss Ariel ignores his obvious plight.

Not even a word of comfort for this clearly wounded man?

ll, I suppose it might be strange to comfort a complete stranger

who suddenly started talking to you.

“Oh, nothing. Just thought I’d do ya a little favor.” Gotou smiles wryly

at Ariel’s cold demeanor, but then his smile fades to a serious

expression. “I’m

willing to bet you’re a lot stronger than you look,

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116

but if you’re thinking about going up against that ogre, I’d think

again. That thing’s a beast. If you underestimate it just ’cause it’s an

ogre, you’re gonna end up regretting it, just like all of us did

. That

thing’s a walking natural disaster, same class as any elder wyrm.”

It sounds like the dangerous monster that’s appeared is an ogre,

albeit a very unusual one.

But what really catches my attention is that Gotou discerned Miss

Ariel’s true strength so

easily.

Miss Ariel looks like a child, not an all

powerful being, but those with

sharp senses might detect a hint of the sheer intimidating aura

rolling off her.

Even if she turns off the Intimidation skill, she can’t quite suppress it

because of the effe

cts of titles and such.

But with her high Stealth, she can generally hide that, too, so only

people with particularly strong intuition should be able to see

through it.

If he picked up on Ariel’s true nature, then this Gotou must be pretty

strong himself.

I guess he’s an A

rank adventurer for a reason.

“The army that’s coming is being led by Elder Ronandt and Elder

Nyudoz. Just let them take care of it. No need to try face a monster

like that by yourself.”

I don’t recognize the names Gotou mentioned, but ba

sed on his

tone, they must be quite strong.

Perhaps even strong enough to defeat an ogre with the strength of a

full

grown wyrm.

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117

“Hrmmm. All right, then. We’ll wait it out until that ogre’s taken care

of. Not that I planned on meddling with the thing mysel

f in the first

place.”

Miss Ariel shrugs.

From her perspective, this is probably an unwelcome bit of advice.

Whether it’s an ogre, a wyrm, or even a dragon for that matter, it

wouldn’t even pose a threat to Miss Ariel.

It would be a simple matter for her t

o defeat it, if she felt so inclined.

But she doesn’t seem to want to, so either she’s trying to be polite or

just wants to avoid drawing too much attention to herself.

“Glad to hear it. What business ya got up that road anyway? It don’t

lead anywhere but

the Mystic Mountains, y’know.”

For a moment, Gotou’s eyes seem to glint sharply.

Could he have caught on to Miss Ariel’s true identity?

No, surely he’d have no way of knowing that she’s the Demon Lord.

But he might have picked up on the fact that she’s not

human. If he

sensed her power to a certain extent, he knows there’s more to her

than meets the eye.

Plus, she’s traveling with a bunch of little girls in tow, including

myself.

Right now, our group consists of Miss Ariel, Merazophis, Ael, Riel,

Fiel, and

me.

Aside from Merazophis, all of us appear to be children.

Ariel looks just barely old enough to be called a “young lady,” but the

rest of us look even younger than that.

I’m sure our group looks very unusual to other onlookers.

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118

I wonder if they assume Me

razophis is our guardian?

At any rate, since Miss Ariel is our leader and he knows that she’s

more powerful than she looks, I’m sure he finds us quite suspicious.

“Well then, it must be obvious that our business is in the Mystic

Mountains,” Miss Ariel resp

onds casually.

Should you really be admitting that so honestly?

“And what might that be, eh?”

“Why should I have to tell you? I wouldn’t give you any more

information unless we were close enough to be sharing a bed first.”

…I wish she wouldn’t throw around

such adult topics so casually.

You’ll be a bad influence for all the little girls here, y’know.

Although I guess all of us, including me, are actually older than we

look.

Ael, Riel, and Fiel are monsters like Miss Ariel, so they’re hardly

young.

And while

my body is as young as it looks, my mind has been around

for much longer.

If you include my previous life, I’m pretty grown up, no?

I do feel like I don’t fully have control over what my body does

sometimes, but my mental age is quite high, I think.

If yo

u take my age in my old life into account, I’m surely an adult by

now.

I always assumed that once I reached my twenties, I’d naturally calm

down and become more mature, but I never imagined that I’d

actually end up back in the body of a child.

But I suppos

e it was unrealistic to assume that I’d turn into a proper

adult based on age alone.

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119

I suppose I hoped that the people who used to look down on me

would become a little easier to deal with in adulthood, too.

But looking at myself now, I can’t help feeling

like all of that was just

wishful thinking.

…Wait a moment.

Does that mean that I haven’t actually done that much growing up

mentally, but I’m avoiding that fact and giving up instead?

No, that can’t be.

I’m a proper lady.

I might look like a young girl, b

ut I have to be well

balanced at least

on the inside!

I’m an adult.

I’m an adult!

All right.

“Guess you got a point. Sorry to bother ya.”

While my mind was wandering in an unexpected direction, it seems

like Miss Ariel settled things with Gotou.

He’s peeli

ng away, so it looks like there won’t be any unnecessary

trouble.

If he’d been too persistent, it might’ve ended badly, considering Miss

Ariel’s true identity.

In the worst

case scenario, Ariel and company might have beaten

him to a pulp.

Really, Miss Arie

l could destroy this whole town if she was so

inclined.

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120

By wisely choosing to withdraw, Gotou might’ve just narrowly

escaped death.

“Any other information worth noting?”

“Ah, no, I don’t believe so.”

Ariel abruptly turns back to the flustered receptionist.

“Oh, right. They were building a village at the foot of the Mystic

Mountains, but the place is a total ghost town now.” Contrary to the

receptionist’s words, Gotou provides some other news. “Rumor has

it that the ogre might’ve killed ’em all. If you knew

anyone there,

well, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Huh. Well, I didn’t, so I guess that doesn’t make much difference to

me.”

At Ariel’s response, Gotou’s eyes glitter again.

“Mr. Gotou, that information’s supposed to be top secret…”

“Oops, my bad! Totally forg

ot. Pretend you didn’t hear that, all

right?”

Miss Ariel rolls her eyes and shrugs in response.

“Let’s go, shall we?”

Deeming it pointless to stay here any longer, Miss Ariel leads us out

of the guild.

As soon as we exit, I use a certain skill.

It’s a vamp

ire Progenitor skill that creates familiars.

I use it to make a mouse familiar and leave it at the guild house.

This gives me the ability to link my consciousness with the familiar.

In this case, I have it approach Gotou without being spotted.

Then I liste

n closely.

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121

“When is the army arriving?”

Through the familiar’s ears, I hear Gotou’s voice, sounding much

more serious than before.

“Oh, erm, we d

don’t know the particulars just yet…”

The receptionist stammers.

Maybe Gotou’s sudden change in demeanor is ma

king her nervous?

“Well, shit. The hell’s going on in this place? Is this town cursed or

what?”

“P

pardon?”

As Gotou mutters darkly, the receptionist stares at him in confusion.

As I watch through the familiar’s eyes, Gotou heaves a heavy sigh

and speaks a

gain.

“I’d bet anything that those folks were demons.”

“What?!”

The receptionist exclaims with shock.

“Shhh! Keep your voice down! I’m not positive yet, but no human

that age would normally carry themselves like that. Demons often

look younger than they ac

tually are. Most likely, that was a group of

demon spies, using their appearance to blend in and gather

information about humans. Bet they’re planning to go through the

Mystic Mountains and retreat into the demon realm once they’re

done here, yeah?”

Wow.

hat’s not exactly right but still pretty darn close.

“They are?! Oh no! Whatever shall we do?!”

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122

“I told you to keep it down! For now, I dunno if this town’s forces

would be able to deal with ’em, what with us adventurers being in

this sorry state. If those

guys are going to leave without causing any

trouble, there’s no sense in pissing them off for no reason.”

Oh?

I thought this was going to end up being a huge pain, but it seems

like Gotou is willing to just wait and watch.

“Really? Are you sure that’s all

right?”

“It’s not exactly my first choice, but something about those girls gave

me the feeling we wouldn’t be able to beat ’em. They must be pretty

well

trained demons. I know they seem small, but they looked at me

like I wasn’t worth a damn. Like they kn

ew they’d be able to easily

deal with me if it came down to a fight.”

Well, he’s not wrong.

“Ugh, maybe I should retire from being an adventurer already. My

confidence is in pieces here.”

Gotou seems seriously down in the dumps, and the receptionist,

unsur

e whether to comfort him or how to do so, simply watches him

anxiously.

“Anyway. Make sure you tell the guild master about this, yeah? In

fact, maybe it’d be faster if I do it myself.”

“W

wait! Shouldn’t we tell the Church, too?”

“Yeah, good point. You tak

e care of that, then. I’ll go talk to the guild

master.”

With that, Gotou heads up some stairs behind the reception desk.

The receptionist hesitates for a moment, then tells the few

remaining adventurers that she’s stepping away from her desk for a

little

while and goes outside.

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123

She’s probably off to tell the so

called

Church

about us.

That probably means the Word of God religion, right?

In that case, she’s probably wasting her time.

I’m sure the Word of God people are already well aware that we’re

in this

town.

During our journey, I’ve learned that the organization known as the

Word of God religion is truly terrifying.

They have a church in just about every town and village, and all these

churches constantly provide the organization with information in

secr

et.

Since being reincarnated into this world, I’ve become painfully aware

of the true value of information.

Here, it’s perfectly normal for something that’s common knowledge

in one town to be completely unheard

of in the next.

That’s a huge adjustment from

Japan, where you could look up

anything online whenever you wanted.

In extreme cases, one town might be panicking on the verge of

starvation while the next town over is flourishing with an

overabundant harvest.

In this world, information mostly travels on

foot.

So the farther away one place is from another, the longer it will take

for information to arrive.

There are some special methods like teleportation, but there are

precious few individuals with the skill.

You’d have to be a Spatial Magic master or po

werful enough to be

able to use a teleport gate.

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124

Both of those things are completely inaccessible to the average

person.

Which is why in this world, people don’t really understand the value

of information.

If you don’t have any way of knowing what’s going

on in other

places, it might as well not be happening at all.

By establishing churches in various places around the entire world

and staffing every outpost with people who have a certain skill, the

Word of God religion can gather information from everywher

e at

once.

That skill is known as Fartalk.

It’s an advanced form of the Telepathy skill that allows you to

communicate telepathically with people who are far away.

When I was a baby and still couldn’t speak properly, I relied on this

skill quite a bit.

But

in this society, most people consider that skill pointless.

The common view is that you might as well just communicate in

person directly, and most of all, you have to use scarce skill points to

acquire Telepathy.

After all, the only other way to get skil

ls is by doing related actions

until you build up enough proficiency to acquire the skill naturally,

and there’s no “related action” for Telepathy.

Well, I guess there

might

be, but there’s certainly no way you could

acquire Telepathy just by living your l

ife normally.

That means the only sure way to acquire the Telepathy skill is to use

skill points, but those are a highly limited resource.

I was born with a huge amount of skill points, maybe because I’m a

reincarnation, but most people aren’t born with an

y at all.

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125

The only way to get skill points is to obtain them naturally as you age

or level up.

And that only earns you very small amounts, so people have to be

cautious about how they spend them.

As a result, there aren’t that many people who choose to use

skill

points on something like Telepathy, it seems.

I do think it ends up being a useful skill if you have it, but most

people won’t spend their valuable skill points on something that’s

only mildly convenient.

But the Word of God religion really uses the

Telepathy skill to its

maximum potential.

They have their personnel train up their Telepathy until it evolves

into Fartalk, allowing them to converse with people who are far

away, and then they dispatch those personnel to far

off towns and

villages so tha

t they can gather information instantly.

The resulting information network is one of the Word of God’s

greatest assets.

In a society where towns can’t even communicate conveniently with

their neighbors, this religion can gather information from any of thei

churches across the world.

Frankly, there’s no organization in this world that could possibly beat

the Word of God religion in an information war.

If the Word of God was so inclined, they could easily spread false

rumors or cover up any inconvenient trut

hs.

And they use that informational power to keep their influence

strong.

The Pontiff’s strength is proof enough of that.

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126

And since the Word of God has this information network, I have no

doubt that they already know where we are.

We’re too important for t

he Pontiff to ignore, especially Miss Ariel.

In addition to their church

based information network, no doubt

they have surveillance on us as well.

In the incident two years ago, the Pontiff was able to appear in front

of us in no time flat, even though we

were carefully avoiding the

public eye.

So even if that receptionist goes running to the Church, I’m sure

she’ll only be telling them what they already know.

And I don’t think the Pontiff would be stupid enough to make an

enemy of Miss Ariel just because o

f that.

I’m sure he’ll handle the situation gracefully.

That’s the one thing he can be trusted to do.

…Even if it leaves me with complicated feelings to trust the man

partly responsible for my parents’ deaths with anything at all.

At this time, even as my

senses are linked with my familiar in the

guild, I’m also walking along with Ariel and the others.

Not only am I focusing on the familiar, I’m thinking about

unnecessary things, which I suppose means my guard is down.

“…shi!”

That’s why I react a second to

o late.

I hear a shout and feel someone grab my arm.

“Huh?!”

Whirling around, I see a small girl.

She looks just as young as I do

—

no, even younger.

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127

And she’s reaching out from an alleyway, grabbing my arm.

Normally, I might freeze up in the face of such an

unexpected event.

But this time, I react on pure instinct.

Because this girl’s ears are long and pointed.

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128

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129

“An elf! Don’t touch me!”

I shake off the girl’s hand and push away her small frame with all my

might.

On top of that, I even cast magic at

her.

My Ice Magic courses through the alleyway, freezing it over.

However, the elf girl has already disappeared before it can freeze

her.

I felt something strange when I pushed her away, and I realize

belatedly that she was holding hands with someone.

Tha

t person must have used Spatial Magic to teleport away with the

girl.

What if her hand had still been on my arm?

I would’ve been teleported along with them.

That must have been the goal of their attack. They used a little girl to

get me to let my guard dow

n in the hopes of abducting me.

“Are you all right?”

“I think so.”

“For now, let’s just get out of here before anyone notices.”

Miss Ariel guides the others and me away from the alley.

Since I used my magic to the best of my ability, the entire alley is

ozen over, which is sure to draw attention.

Considering the situation with Gotou, it might lead to some major

problems if anyone finds out we were involved in this ruckus.

“Did she call you Negishi?”

On our way back to the inn, Miss Ariel murmurs something

to me.

“What?”

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130

“Oh, nothing. I’m sure it was just my imagination.”

Though she brushes it off lightly, Miss Ariel’s expression looks grim.

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131

THE

OLD

MAN

FIGHTS AN

OGRE

“Urrrgh.”

“What’s the matter, Master? You finally gonna croak ’cause you’re

damn old or what?”

I drop a fist on the head of my incredibly rude second apprentice.

“Owww! What the hell, old man?! Are you out of your mind,

smacking a young lady on the head like that?! Wait, no, I’m sorry.

You’ve been out of your mind for a long ti

me now.”

Even a light smack isn’t enough to stop this young lady’s foul mouth.

She’s always been crass, but it seems to me that she’s only gotten

worse over the past few years.

I originally hired Aurel as an assistant of sorts, but after a surprising

turn

of events led me to realize her magical potential, I made her my

second apprentice.

Specifically, this happened when my first apprentice, Julius, was

halfway through death’s door, and Aurel used Healing Magic to save

him.

Imagine my shock when I saw a tear

ful Aurel re

create Healing Magic

just based on what she’d seen before.

After all, using magic without the assistance of a skill is a feat I have

only ever seen performed by the master.

It was only for a moment, but when she cried out, “Sir Hero, don’t

die

!” and managed to replicate a healing spell, I was struck with

admiration.

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132

With enough training, she could be as powerful as I

—

no, perhaps

even more so.

Thus, I somewhat forcibly made her my apprentice, but the

unfortunate reality is that she seems to be u

tterly unmotivated.

Still, she already has more talent than your average adult mage, so

my eyes did not deceive me.

“The problem, old man, is that you’ve filled your whole head to

bursting with nothing but damn magic. If it seeps into your body, too,

and m

akes you explode or something, you’d be doing the whole

damn world a favor, I guess.”

…No, it’s definitely not my imagination. Her abusive language toward

me has grown far more colorful over the years.

As I raise my fist again in silence, my apprentice emi

ts a strange little

shriek and dodges away, taking cover behind an elderly knight in

golden armor.

“Sir Ronandt! Do you think it chivalrous for a knight to raise a hand

against a child?!”

The armor

clad individual bellows so loudly that I fear for my

eardr

ums.

“I am no knight, so that is of little consequence to me. Besides, this is

simply my method of teaching. Have you not heard of ‘tough love’? If

anything, my second apprentice here is at fault for attempting to

flee.”

“Oh

ho! I see!”

The old knight, who

is all too easily won over by my words, is called

Nyudoz.

As you might guess, he is something of a muscle head.

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133

To borrow Aurel’s phrase, his head is filled with nothing but muscles,

just like the rest of his body.

In other words, he is a moron.

However,

as a veteran who once fought alongside the previous

sword

king, his strength is indisputable.

He is a master swordsman, perhaps even on the same level as the

previous sword

king himself.

Though he is just as far along in years as I am, he is still on activ

duty, standing guard over the northern fortress.

Of course, this is only due to a command from the nobles who do not

wish to let the lowborn Nyudoz too close to the heart of power, but a

simpleton like him is happier swinging his sword around in the thic

of battle anyway.

Today, he is assisting me in leading the assault against that ogre as a

field commander, but he is far too foolish to actually do any

commanding.

“Very well! Go and accept your beating, then!”

“What the hell kind of logic is that?!”

Nyu

doz grabs my second apprentice and pushes her in front of me.

He’s a moron, all right.

“Ah, forget it. But, Nyudoz, could you lower your volume a tad? My

ears can scarcely bear the pain.”

“Oh

ho! And how might I go about lowering my volume?”

…Ah, forget it

Somehow, this simpleton is beloved by all his soldiers. Truly, some

things in this world are beyond comprehension.

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134

As I stare at him grimly, a messenger runs up to inform us that the

soldiers have taken their positions.

“I see. Then preparations are comp

lete.”

“Indeed! No ogre stands a chance against my sword and your magic!

For the sake of our fallen brethren, let us turn this beast into rust

upon my sword!”

I cannot help but agree wholeheartedly with Nyudoz’s declaration, if

not with his volume.

With Ny

udoz at the front and myself at the rear, no ordinary enemy

stands a ghost of a chance.

However, this ogre is no ordinary enemy.

“Apprentice Two. Do you remember the intelligence we received

about this ogre?”

“Uh

huh. You know I do.”

“Then, as practice, pl

ease recite the traits of an ordinary ogre and

the unique traits of this one.”

Instead of following my instructions, my apprentice looks at me

suspiciously.

“Is there a problem, child?”

“No, no. I was just wondering

—

you didn’t already forget what they

told

us at the guild, did you, Master?”

“Nonsense. Of course not. It’s this fool who’s doubtless forgotten.”

I point at Nyudoz, and understanding dawns on Aurel’s face.

Nyudoz is standing with his arms crossed, looking serious.

But serious though his expressio

n may be, it’s obvious that he’s

forgotten what we were told.

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135

The man’s brain consists of nothing but muscle, after all. I’m sure any

and all explanations go in one ear and out the other.

Even if the information contained within was gained at the cost of

any adventurers’ lives.

“Ahem. So a normal ogre is no big deal, right? They’re humanoid

monsters, and their intelligence varies from one to the other. But

most of them are supposed to only be as smart as a human of

around three years old, so they can’t do

much more than speak a

few simple words and wave their weapons around. Your lesser ogre

has the physique of a grown human male, give or take. When they

evolve, they get bigger, and supposedly an Ogre King is several times

the height of a human. They’re gen

erally power types, just like you’d

expect, so they’re not super

fast, but their attacks are pretty damn

strong. Since they’re humanoid and all, a few of them might have

magic or other unexpected skills, but that kinda thing is rare as hell.

Most ogres mov

e in groups and rarely leave their territories. Uh…I

guess that’s about it? Is that good enough, old man?”

“Indeed it is.”

I nod my approval.

Apprentice Two’s description is quite accurate.

“So with all that in mind, could you describe the ogre we’re about

face?”

“With all that in mind? I mean, are we sure this thing’s even an ogre?

It has next to none of the features I just listed.”

Hrmmm. She’s not wrong, but I wish she’d just get on with the

explanation.

“This ogre has a whole bunch of special skills,

and it seems to be

pretty damn smart. A lot of the details are still shrouded in mystery,

but we know that among its skills there’s something that provides

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136

sudden, total recovery. Its wounds, magic, and even energy can just

get completely maxed out of now

here, apparently. Also, its stats can

temporarily go way the hell up. Far as we know, the effect doesn’t

last long, but it’s crazy dangerous in combination with the whole

healing thing. And the most important thing is it seems to have a skill

that allows i

t to make magic swords.”

“Magic swords, you say?!”

Why is Nyudoz responding only to that last part?

In fact, why is he reacting this way at all when we heard the same

explanation at the guild?

He reacted the same way the first time, but clearly he’s alread

forgotten.

“An ogre with magic swords, indeed! Perhaps my beloved blade has

found a worthy opponent!”

Nyudoz’s sword is a magic sword, too.

I guess this sparked his competitive nature…

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s that simple. It doesn’t just

have

a magic

word; it has a skill that can

make

magic swords, remember?”

An ogre with magic swords would be surprising enough on its own,

but a skill that can make magic swords is completely unheard

of.

“Hrmmm?! Now, how exactly is that different?!”

“It’s incredibly di

fferent, you idiot.”

A monster with a magic sword would be bad, but a monster that can

create magic swords using a skill is infinitely worse.

If it just happened to have magic swords, then we would need to

worry only about those swords’ abilities.

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137

Magic sw

ords are powerful weapons either way, but they have a

limited range of abilities.

If you know what a magic sword is capable of, there are plenty of

ways to counteract it.

But if the ogre can create magic swords freely, and especially if it can

change those

magic swords’ abilities at will, then it’s all but

impossible to prepare in advance.

We were told that the ogre fought with two magic swords

—

one fire

and one lightning

—

but it’s possible that the situation has changed

since then.

We have no idea what our o

pponent will be planning.

And if it can create magic swords, that means it could have any

number of them.

One magic sword is dangerous enough, so having more than one is a

serious threat.

And this ogre even has magic swords that it doesn’t mind destroying

in the course of combat.

It seems that it can produce them without limit, after all.

In fact, the adventurers who fought the ogre before were wiped out

by exploding magic swords.

Magic swords are generally far too valuable to use and throw away,

but if you

can make them in unlimited quantities, it’s quite a

different story.

This ogre can produce many different kinds of magic swords and use

them disposably without hesitation.

What a troublesome opponent.

“Do you understand now? Hrmmm. It seems that you do no

t.”

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138

I attempted to explain why a skill that creates magic swords is so

dangerous, but Nyudoz’s only response is steam rising from his ears

as he attempts to process the information.

I thought I phrased it as simply as possible, but it seems that even

this

was too difficult for a moron of this caliber.

“In other words, I suppose, this enemy is very strong.”

“Oh

ho! Yes, I understand everything now!”

No, I don’t think you do…

“Shall we go over our strategy, then?”

Ignoring Nyudoz, I turn my gaze to my second

apprentice.

My apprentice senses the meaning behind my gaze and begins to

explain the basics of our strategy.

“Yes, sir. Our strategy is simple. We’ll station soldiers around the

area so the ogre can’t run away. Then we’ll nail it with a huge

magical barra

ge, close in on the bastard, and finish it off.”

Hrmmm. Well. I suppose that’s correct.

I wish she could’ve explained with a bit more depth, however.

The reason I’ll be starting with a preemptive magic strike across a

wide area is in order to neutralize th

e exploding magic swords that

killed more than half the adventurers in the previous battle.

These swords were evidently buried underground and explode when

stepped on.

Most likely, a certain amount of pressure causes them to go off.

This is precious inform

ation paid for in blood by many an adventurer.

We have no way of knowing exactly how many trump cards the

enemy possesses, but this strategy should eliminate one of them, at

least.

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139

It’s hard to say whether that information was worth the sacrifice of

all th

ose adventurers’ lives, but they died all the same, so we must

accept it and act upon this information with reverence and respect.

“That’s the long and short of it, Master. We’ll be counting on ya.”

“What are you saying? That is your job, is it not?”

“Huh?

”

Apprentice Two stares at me for a moment, then slowly points at

herself.

Silently, I nod.

“Whaaat?!

Me?!

”

She’s overreacting, as usual.

All she has to do is sweep the area clean with powerful magic.

“I can’t do it! No way in hell!”

“Young lady! You shoul

d never deem something impossible before

you’ve attempted it! You won’t know what you’re capable of unless

you try!”

For once, Nyudoz actually says something sensible.

Indeed, I don’t believe I’ve asked the impossible of her in the least.

I proposed this o

nly because I believe my apprentice can do it.

“Indeed, there is no harm in giving it a try. Even if you fail, the worst

that can happen is that I will laugh at you for hours afterward.”

“Wow, Master, you’re the worst!”

“I believe you mean

best

.”

My appren

tice continues whining for a while, but eventually she

senses that I have no intention of relenting and grumbles as she

starts channeling her magic.

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140

Hrmmm. It appears that she’s chosen the Gale Magic spell Falling

Sky.

It is a wide

range attack spell that

strikes the ground with a blast of

air.

It isn’t particularly lethal, only powerful enough to slow down an

advancing army, so it isn’t a terribly popular spell.

However, when you reach my level of aptitude, you can easily crush

someone to death with it.

d the advantage of this spell is that it consumes relatively little MP

despite its wide range.

This is the perfect spell for my young disciple to cover the entire area

of the ogre’s forest.

A good judgment.

However, her slow, sloppy rune structure proves t

hat she still has a

long way to go.

After quite a while, Apprentice Two finishes her spell and activates it.

The compressed air smashes down onto the ground, shaking the very

earth.

Branches snap off the trees in the area, and the snow piled on the

ground

goes flying into the air.

Then another set of tremors runs through the ground, different from

the ones caused by Falling Sky.

The trees that weren’t completely destroyed by my apprentice’s

spell break free at the trunk before getting blown away, and the

ow disappears into eruptions of flame.

It looks as if a powerful fire

type spell has unfolded before us.

“Goodness me.”

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141

Despite myself, I murmur in surprise and admiration.

Aurel’s spell has set off the exploding magic swords the ogre set in

the ground, ju

st as it was supposed to.

However, I never expected the results to be so drastic.

How many magic swords must have been in the earth to cause such

massive destruction?

If we had charged in without a plan, it would have resulted in

nothing but a second act o

f the tragedy that befell the first

adventurer band.

We shall have to tread even more carefully from here on out.

As my assistant stares at the blaze before her, she slumps to the

ground in shock.

Although I suppose part of that is exhaustion from expendin

g so

much of her magic energy.

“Now’s our chance! All units, charge!”

As soon as the explosions cease, Nyudoz shouts an order.

It isn’t as loud as the explosions were, but surely the soldiers must

have all heard him.

They start to move immediately.

But if

they were able to hear it, the ogre must have heard it as well.

Without a doubt, it will soon be on the move.

“Nyudoz, I shall join you on the front lines. Fall back, Apprentice

Two.”

“Oh

ho!”

“Gotcha, sir.”

Nyudoz and I march forward with the soldiers.

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142

nce my apprentice has used up her magic, it’s best for her to stay

away from the front lines.

Sharpening my senses, I proceed toward where the ogre’s presence

seems strongest.

The ground has been torn up by the explosions, while fallen trees

also slow our

advance.

Crossing over the difficult terrain carefully, we proceed slowly but

surely toward the ogre.

“Hrmmm?!”

However, the ogre will not simply wait for us to arrive.

Something flies toward us and lands in the ground before our eyes.

“A magic sword?!”

udoz’s shout is correct.

“It’s going to explode! Stay away from it!”

Obeying his order, the soldiers give the magic sword a wide berth.

However, a dreadful premonition strikes me, and I Appraise the

sword.

“No! Fall back!”

Just as I shout a warning, anothe

r magic sword comes flying and

lands in the earth some distance from the first one.

And before the soldiers can react, a bright light arcs into the air.

“Is it too late?!”

Watching the front lines fall back, I realize that my warning might not

have made it

in time.

The sword sticking out of the ground wasn’t an exploding one.

It’s imbued with lightning.

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143

A powerful electric current surges between the first sword and the

second.

The soldiers standing at the front are brought down by the electric

shock.

A scen

t of burning flesh fills the air.

The ones who took a direct hit were probably killed instantly.

What horrifying power.

And that’s not the only thing to fear about these magic swords.

A wall of lightning now blocks our way forward, covering the ground

betw

een the two swords.

The same lightning that was powerful enough to kill those soldiers in

an instant is flowing continuously, forming a formidable barrier.

If we try to press forward recklessly, we’ll only increase the number

of casualties even further.

t we cannot simply withdraw without doing anything.

“Hrmph! I shall pull that sword out of the ground myself!”

“Foolishness. Even you would not be unharmed if you touch that

sword.”

As I stop Nyudoz from running up to the sword that’s producing the

lightni

ng, a new magic sword comes flying through the lightning

barrier.

Unlike the others, this one is clearly aimed straight toward us.

“Watch out!”

I quickly prepare a spell and launch it at the magic sword.

A Fireball, the kind of magic I specialize in best,

crashes into the

sword and causes an explosion in midair.

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144

The shock waves send several soldiers flying to the ground.

Fortunately, they’ve only been knocked down and aren’t severely

injured, but I have no doubt that it would have ended quite

differently if

that explosion struck them directly.

So the ogre is able to throw exploding swords as well as planting

them in the ground.

This does not bode well.

If we’re pinned in place by this lightning barrier, the lot of us will be

sitting ducks for more of those e

xploding swords, worsening our

losses.

We simply must do something.

I look past the barrier to see beyond.

Though it should be impossible to see it with the naked eye, my

Clairvoyance skill allows me to detect where the ogre stands.

It holds a magic sword

in each hand, preparing to throw them this

way at any moment.

What an enormous creature.

The magic swords in its hands are average

size long swords, but the

size of the ogre makes them look like daggers.

Ogres grow larger each time they evolve.

In which ca

se, it’s safe to assume that this ogre has evolved a

considerable number of times.

In fact, it has evolved to a King, the pinnacle of the ogre species.

The ogre flings one of the magic swords.

I use another spell to meet it in midair, the resulting explosi

eliciting more shouts among the soldiers.

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145

“Don’t lose your heads!”

Thanks to Nyudoz’s scolding, they manage to hold the line.

However, if they keep getting attacked one

sidedly, some of these

soldiers will surely flee soon.

I have no intention of simply

waiting around for that eventuality.

“We’ve let this beast have its way long enough. Time for a little

surprise of our own.”

No doubt my current expression is a rather evil one.

“It’s your time to shine, Nyudoz.”

“Hrmmm?!”

I place a hand on Nyudoz’s shoul

der.

Shortly afterward, he disappears on the spot.

Then he reappears again, directly in front of the ogre’s eyes.

“Grrrgh?!”

“What?!”

Nyudoz and the ogre let out surprised cries at the same time.

Spatial Magic: Teleport.

I used that spell to surpass the li

ghtning barrier and send Nyudoz

over to the ogre.

Perhaps I should have warned Nyudoz first, but it’s possible that the

ogre would catch wind of our plan with augmented hearing or the

like, so I felt this was the best way to catch the creature off guard.

esides, Nyudoz functions on pure animal instinct.

If nothing else, I trust him to take the appropriate action without

even thinking.

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146

Sure enough, his surprise lasts only a fraction of a second before he

slashes at the ogre.

As Nyudoz’s sword closes in, the

ogre abandons the magic sword it

was ready to throw and instead draws one of the magic swords at its

waist to block the attack.

It must have changed its mind because blocking with the throwing

sword would cause it to explode, hurting the ogre itself.

The

monster was able to judge that in an instant and calmly decide

on appropriate countermeasures.

What a terrifying creature.

The two swords clash; then their wielders both leap back.

With that, the sword fight between Nyudoz and the ogre begins.

The ogre swi

ngs its two swords, blocking Nyudoz’s attacks.

Its swords are of strange make: slightly curved blades with only a

single sharpened side.

They look small compared to the ogre’s giant body, but when they

lock with Nyudoz’s long sword, they appear to be about

the same

size.

This seems ill

suited to the ogre’s giant stature, but not enough so to

create an opening.

Most likely, the creature evolved so rapidly that it outgrew the

swords that had been the proper size some time ago.

Nyudoz, who was once famous as a

master of swordsmanship, seems

to be handling the ogre’s two

sword style with ease.

Though the ogre may have more weapons, it’s far outmatched by

Nyudoz’s excellent swordsmanship, so it cannot quite gain the upper

hand.

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147

Hrmmm.

If one of its one

handed swo

rds can block Nyudoz’s attack, then the

ogre would seem to have the advantage in brute strength.

But no doubt Nyudoz is far superior in technique.

There is a certain crudeness to the ogre’s movements.

As if it hasn’t received any proper training and is fig

hting on pure

reflexes.

I suppose that is indeed the case.

How would an ogre possibly undergo formal training?

But if it’s a match for Nyudoz even without training, this creature has

terrifying potential.

An even match, eh?

But Nyudoz is known as one of th

e greatest masters of

swordsmanship.

His old age has not tarnished his abilities, and now that the previous

sword

king has vanished, he is undoubtedly the strongest

swordsman in the empire.

How can this ogre hold its own against him?

If we don’t do somethi

ng about this monster here and now, it might

soon grow beyond our ability to fight it.

On top of that, there’s the unknown power the adventurers’ guild

described: a sudden, drastic increase in stats, as well as total

recovery.

Nyudoz is holding his own rig

ht now, but we must not let our guards

down yet.

I activate Earth Magic.

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148

An earthen spear bursts from the ground, pushing up the lightning

sword that was stuck there.

The magic sword is stuck in the tip of the protrusion of earth.

With the sword in the air

, the lightning barrier it was emitting has

been raised as well.

“Now! Charge through the gap!”

As I shout, I deal with the other magic swords in the same way.

It’s a simple solution that allows us to deal with the lightning swords

without touching them.

s I move the rest of the swords, a path opens up for the soldiers,

who begin to charge toward the ogre.

No matter how strong it might be, being outnumbered will surely

leave the monster at a disadvantage.

If it had the kind of unthinkable strength wielded

by that great being,

this would be a different story, but if it is only about as strong as

Nyudoz, the support of the soldiers should be a big help.

As well as my own support, of course.

If the ogre favors using fire and lightning, it’s safe to assume that

has a high resistance to damage from those elements.

In that case, my best bet for a long

distance attack is perhaps light.

I prepare a spell.

It’s the lowest grade of Light Magic.

Normally, it has a low cost, but I supply the spell with an excessive

mount of magic power.

It’s a technique I learned from those spiders.

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149

It took more than two years to perfect, but as a result, my mastery of

magic has been massively enhanced.

Now, even when I cast a low

grade spell, I can successfully increase

the amount o

f magic used in order to make it many times more

powerful.

And yet, the amount of time it takes to invoke does not change.

I am still far below the level of that master of magic, but I’ve taken

another step closer to the heights of occultism.

Soon, I activ

ate my extra powerful Light Magic spell.

The advantage of Light Magic is that it hits almost as soon as it is

fired, making it easier to accurately aim at a small area.

Thanks to that, I can avoid the rapidly moving Nyudoz and strike only

the ogre with my

spell.

The Light Magic lands squarely on the ogre’s feet, just as I planned.

The direct hit slows the ogre’s movements.

Immediately spotting the opening, Nyudoz strikes out boldly.

The ogre swings the sword in its right hand, producing fire from the

tip.

owever, the raging flames don’t reach Nyudoz.

For Nyudoz’s sword is a magic sword, as well, this one imbued with

Wind Magic.

The blowing wind scatters the flames before they can take hold.

Nyudoz pushes right through where the flames were, bringing his

swo

rd down toward the ogre, who blocks the strike with the magic

sword in its left hand.

Lightning crackles out of the second blade, and Nyudoz is blown

backward.

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150

But such a minor blow could never kill that man.

As the ogre focuses on driving Nyudoz away, I h

it it with more Light

Magic.

This time, the spell has more power than before.

The magic strikes the ogre right in the head.

Even this mighty monster surely cannot survive if it loses its head.

The ogre’s body twists and falls.

As it goes down, it flings th

e sword in its hand.

A vain struggle, but the lightning sword strikes one of the

approaching soldiers, stealing away his life.

What an unlucky soul.

But this is where it ends.

And yet, a moment later, the ogre is surrounded by light and stands

up.

The woun

d I inflicted upon its head is disappearing.

Impossible!

We were indeed told that it had the ability to completely recover,

but how could that apply even to a fatal wound?!

Unthinkable. This is as if we were fighting an immortal beast.

If its healing was a

ble to save it from that head wound, the only way I

can think to defeat it would be to tear it apart so completely that

even that healing could not re

form it.

Then I suppose a lesser spell simply won’t do, even if enhanced with

more magic power.

Even a gr

eater spell may not destroy it unless I provide it with extra

magic.

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151

Can I do it?

Yes, I have reached a level of confidence where I can infuse a lesser

spell with extra magic power and pull it off perfectly.

However, when it comes to more advanced magic, I

am still a touch

nervous.

The only spell of mine powerful enough to blow away that ogre’s

giant body would most likely be Inferno Magic, the advanced form of

the Fire Magic at which I so excel.

Inferno Magic is already difficult to cast and control, so if

I add magic

on top of that?

It would be next to impossible, even for me.

In fact, Inferno Magic is not meant to be used by one person alone in

the first place.

It is a spell generally constructed by multiple mages using the

Cooperation skill.

My second ap

prentice often tells me that I must not be human to be

able to use that spell on my own, but now I face an even more

impossible task: infusing this spell with extra magic.

However, I cannot fail if we are to have any hope of defeating that

ogre.

I have no

choice but to make it work!

“Grrr?!”

The ogre growls.

For a moment, it seems as if its eyes have met mine through my

Clairvoyance skill.

Hrmph! How unfortunate. It seems to have noticed me.

“Nyudoz! Keep it pinned down!”

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152

“Got it!”

If I’m attacked while pre

paring a spell, I have no way of defending

myself.

Nyudoz responds to my order to keep the ogre in check, boldly

attacking it.

The soldiers follow his lead, slowly forming a circle around the

monster and closing in.

No doubt Nyudoz will be able to keep the

ogre occupied long enough

for me to complete my spell.

Even with its incredible recovery power, the ogre cannot possibly

survive an Inferno Magic spell infused with extra magic power.

This shall be the finishing blow!

“GRAAAAAAH!”

A roar from the ogre dis

pels my thoughts.

It’s an animalistic, earsplitting roar, a stark contrast to the ogre’s

almost humanlike behavior thus far.

And that isn’t the only change.

The force emanating from the ogre is far stronger than it was mere

moments ago.

This pressure… It’s

akin to the presence of the earth dragons I once

encountered in the Great Elroe Labyrinth!

No, it’s even stronger!

According to the information from the adventurers’ guild, the ogre

was suspected of having three unusual abilities.

One was producing magic

swords.

One was complete recovery.

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153

And this is the final one: an unnatural increase in stats!

Just as the rumors said, this dramatic transformation cannot be

explained by any known skills like Magic or Mental Warfare.

Since I am observing the phenomenon wi

th Clairvoyance, not the

naked eye, I cannot Appraise the ogre.

I have no way of knowing just how drastically the creature’s stats

have increased.

However, judging by its overwhelming presence, I do not think

Nyudoz and the others stand a chance against it

In fact, I doubt that even I can bring this beast down.

But we cannot turn back now!

Though it may be a vain struggle, I shall strike the monster with my

Inferno Magic spell!

“Hrmmm?!”

But unfortunately, I’m unable to activate the spell after all.

Before

I can do so, the ogre whirls around and charges away.

Giving the soldiers surrounding it no time to react, the ogre crashes

right through their ranks.

It moves too quickly for my eyes to follow.

“It…ran away…?”

For a few moments, I stare after the fleeing

ogre in disbelief.

The other soldiers seem to be just as flummoxed.

“Hrmph! I must admit, the creature runs splendidly!”

Nyudoz’s absurd remark brings me back to my senses.

I turn in time to see him putting away his beloved Wind Magic sword,

a clear sign

that the battle is over.

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154

Nyudoz knows as well as I do that we cannot pursue this creature.

Why the ogre fled, we cannot know for sure.

But whatever the reason, it is doubtful that we could catch up to the

fleet

footed monster; even if we did, I cannot say

for certain whether

we could defeat it.

The ogre’s abilities were simply far too unusual.

Perhaps I should have risked the danger to gaze upon it with my

naked eye and done my best to Appraise it.

If we knew anything about its mysterious abilities, perhaps

we could

come up with some kind of countermeasure.

“Well then, what to do now?”

It would be extremely dangerous to chase after the ogre.

However, we cannot simply ignore it.

Above all, I swore to Buirimus’s wife that I would avenge him.

My own pride will

not allow me to go back on that promise.

“I suppose we must regroup and decide how best to pursue the

creature another day.”

“That will not be necessary.”

I was speaking only to myself, and yet, a voice answers me.

A person clad in black clothing kneels be

hind me.

How did they get so close to me without my noticing?

Who…? No, there is only one organization that keeps such people.

I already know this person’s identity.

“A dog of the Word of God, are you?”

“Indeed.”

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155

Despite my rude phrasing, the person confir

ms without hesitation.

Their emotionless voice hides their thoughts the way the black fabric

they’ve donned hides their face.

Such is always the way with the covert agents employed by the Word

of God.

Cloaked in shadows, the legends about them say they dis

pose of

heathens, monsters living among humans, and so on.

Though they are normally the stuff of rumors alone, one has

appeared before me now.

“And what might such a dog want?”

“Allow us to take care of that creature, please.”

The operative responds with a

concise request.

So these shadowy agents intend to defeat the ogre themselves?

“This is empire territory. You ask that while knowingly entering our

lands?”

I glare at the black

clad operative, attempting to remind them of the

consequences for a foreign ag

ent who does as they please in the

empire.

The Word of God may be a powerful organization that transcends

borders, but if they aim to interfere with our army’s official business,

that will certainly be a problem.

Meddling with another nation’s domestic aff

airs could easily create

an international incident.

“Yes. We understand.”

Judging by the response, it’s clear they realize the risks involved.

In other words, the Word of God must have a strong reason for doing

so.

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156

Or perhaps showing themselves before me l

ike this is supposed to a

gesture of good faith.

With their high capacity for stealth, surely they could have done

whatever they’re planning without my ever noticing them.

The question is, if I refuse their request, will they give up and turn

back?

If they

choose to instead act in secrecy, I doubt I would have any way

of knowing.

“And how do you intend to deal with the creature?”

“We can promise that it will be of no disadvantage to the empire.”

That does not quite answer my question.

Perhaps they cannot re

veal their plans but can assure us that no

harm will come to the empire.

“…Very well, then. We shall leave it to you.”

“Your cooperation is appreciated.”

I reluctantly agree to the Word of God’s request.

For one thing, it’s entirely possible that they woul

d act on their own

if I refused.

And most of all, it would be difficult to defeat that ogre with our

power alone.

It has shocking recovery power, and its stats may even surpass those

of an earth dragon.

Since it ran away, there may be some limitation or we

akness to

exploit, but it would be foolish to move our troops based on mere

wishful thinking.

I cannot repeat the same error I made in the labyrinth.

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157

…I am sorry, Buirimus.

I wanted to avenge you with my own two hands, but it seems that is

not to be.

If th

e Word of God is willing and able to fulfill that goal instead, I

must grant them the right to do so, even if it may break my heart.

“Once again, I must remind you that this is empire territory, and you

must act accordingly. Is that clear?”

“Of course.”

e black

clad operative nods at once.

I suppose I have no choice but to trust them.

“I am terribly sorry to chase this with an additional request, but

there is a certain personage currently staying in the nearby town.

The adventurers’ guild may ask you to d

o something about them, but

please, we must request that you do not interfere.”

Hrmmm?

This request seems completely unrelated to the matter at hand.

And yet, the operative seems more desperate about this than the

matter of the ogre.

The length and politen

ess of the request is made that painfully

obvious.

“What do you

—

?”

“Hrm! Who goes there?!”

As I start to ask a question, Nyudoz interrupts me with a shout.

Turning, I see him charging in our direction at top speed.

I suppose I cannot blame him for finding

a completely black

clad

agent of darkness to be highly suspicious.

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158

Nyudoz is always quick to react in such a way.

“Thank you for your continued cooperation.”

“Ah, wait!”

Ignoring my exclamation, the black

clad individual disappears.

I cannot help but be aw

ed by such agility.

“Sir Ronandt! Are you all right?!”

“Yes, I’m fine. I shall tell you in more detail when matters have

settled.”

Feeling a bit of heat from Nyudoz, I nevertheless set off to gather the

soldiers.

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159

THE

OGRE

PURSUED

“Hff! Hff!”

The fierce w

inds force my white breath to trail behind me.

Without turning back to watch it disappear, I run with all my might.

I was naive.

Going in, I did not think myself too prideful or too careless.

In fact, it seemed to me that I was overpreparing due to needles

anxiety.

And yet, I was naive.

The fact that I’m running away so shamefully is proof of that.

After I defeated one troop of adventurers, I started readying myself

for the next battle.

To put it simply, that first battle was a massacre.

I made preparation

s in advance and intercepted them with my full

power, and it went even more smoothly than I imagined.

However, I wouldn’t say that it was an easy win.

In fact, it was a close call.

I used up every one of the magic swords I’d prepared and had to run

myself

ragged before I managed to shake the enemy, so it wasn’t as

one

sided a slaughter as it may have seemed to the attackers.

The adventurers I killed probably didn’t notice, but they’d actually

driven me pretty close to the wall.

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160

Without my special trait of f

ully recovering when I level up, I

probably would have been killed.

It was only because there were so many of them, and of such high

strength, that I was able to receive so many experience points and

reliably level up.

It’s pretty ironic that their strengt

h and numbers are what allowed

me to win.

However, that worked only because they were still weaker than I am.

As long as I’m up against enemies I can defeat individually, one

one, there’s not too much to worry about, but if any of them were

stronger tha

n me, I wouldn’t be able to count on beating them and

leveling up to recover.

Not if I can’t beat them.

And for all I know, there are plenty enemies out there who I can’t

beat.

Even if there aren’t, a group of several strong contenders around my

level of s

trength would also make it much harder for me to win.

That’s why I have to undertake all these preparations.

I continually make magic swords as long as I have the MP.

When my MP runs out, I practice with my katana.

Among the previous group of adventurers,

there was actually one

swordsman was able to match me.

If he hadn’t been injured in the process of closing in, I might’ve been

in serious trouble.

See, I have magic

oriented stats.

Creating magic swords requires using a lot of MP, so my magic stats

are hig

her than the rest.

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161

My physical and defense stats are a lot lower than most would

probably assume from my bulky physique.

After the battle with the adventurers, I evolved again and became an

Ogre King.

This species seems to have a special trait that makes m

y physical

stats rise much higher than before.

My magic stats are oriented toward making magic swords, so they’re

not actually all that useful in battle.

All in all, I had little choice but to fight with my lower physical stats,

but luckily I’d been able t

o scrape by so far.

Even my relatively low physical stats were still higher than those of

the adventurers.

Besides, I can make up for that in a pinch with Battle Divinity, an

advanced skill that greatly increases my physical stats.

If I activate that, I ca

n defeat just about anyone.

But I think that adventurer who managed to get close to me had

stats on par with my own, or maybe even higher.

If our stats are around the same, then the victor is determined by

sheer skill in battle.

And I’m sure that adventure

r was far better than me.

My swordsmanship, feints, and strategies couldn’t measure up to

that man’s experience.

The only reason I was able to defeat him was that he was already

injured, and I was lucky enough to level up and recover.

I’m sure that adventu

rer wasn’t anywhere near the strongest in the

world, so I had to improve myself so that I could win even without

my fortunate advantages.

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162

If an even stronger human shows up, I might get killed.

I’d evolved and gotten stronger after that battle, but I could

n’t let my

guard down.

I knew I would have to be prepared to take on my next enemy with

everything I have.

But despite my best efforts, all my preparations fell apart so easily.

These new attackers must have used some kind of magic, a wide

range attack tha

t destroyed the land mine swords and tore up the

surrounding land.

They slipped past the lightning fence swords that I set up to slow

them down with the dirty trick of teleporting, then had the nerve to

topple them by moving the very ground itself.

And the

n there was the old knight who attacked me. He was even

stronger than the adventurer from the previous battle.

His face under the helmet was clearly creased with wrinkles, yet the

strength and sharpness of his swordsmanship showed no signs of

being dulled

by age.

It was a good call to practice with my swords after the previous

battle against those adventurers.

Otherwise, I probably would have been cut to pieces.

The man was a master of swordsmanship.

And clearly, he was a veteran of countless battles.

In te

rms of brute strength, Battle Divinity gave me the advantage.

But he had enough experience and talent to make up for that with

ease.

I couldn’t let my guard down for a second, but I couldn’t focus solely

on the old knight, either.

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163

Because the mage who tele

ported the knight over to me was

attacking me from a distance.

The two elderly men had me pinned down, and when a spell blew a

hole through my head, I knew I was on death’s doorstep.

But luck was on my side: a sword that I threw half reflexively

managed to

hit one of the soldiers and kill him, and even more

luckily, that caused me to level up and fully recover, which was the

only thing that could have saved my life.

It was a truly one

million stroke of luck.

If anything had gone even slightly different

ly…

The thought alone makes me shudder.

The only reason I’m alive now is because I got lucky.

And that’s the only reason I was able to get away, too.

My vision was swimming with red, my consciousness fading.

But I somehow managed to hold on to my senses an

d get through it.

If I’d lost control, I have a feeling I would never have been able to get

it back.

I’m hanging on to my sanity by a thread.

I had to string together all the reasons I needed to leave and run

away, or I would have given in to my violent fu

ry and lost myself to a

reckless rampage.

In that situation, I’m sure I could have beaten the old knight and the

old mage.

However, that victory would only lead to my own destruction.

It’s all right.

I’m fine.

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164

I can still think rationally like this.

I have

n’t lost my mind yet…

“Hff! Hff!”

It gets harder to breathe, so I stop running.

Since I’ve been dashing at full speed, I’m completely breathless and

worn out.

But I’ve probably gotten far away by now.

I covered a significant distance, so I doubt my attacke

rs could have

kept up with me all this way.

Just as I breathe a sigh of relief, a beam of light grazes my cheek.

“?!”

A tiny trickle of blood beads on the shallow cut across my cheek.

Before I even feel any pain, I whirl toward the source of the beam.

Ther

e, I see the same elderly mage who shot my head with magic

before.

“Wh…ah!”

I’m shocked for only a moment, until I realize how he’s gotten here.

That’s right.

This old mage can use a dirty trick that should be against the rules:

teleporting!

No matter how

far I run, he can disregard the distance and simply

use Teleport to catch up.

As I stand, dumbfounded, the old mage glares at me and raises his

wand.

“Aaaargh!”

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165

Unable to suppress the chill creeping up my spine, I bellow as I start

to run.

Instead of the u

sual anger that threatens to set my body aflame, this

time I feel raw terror that nearly freezes me in place.

Rationally, I know that fleeing on foot is pointless against a mage

who can teleport, but my fear overpowers all reason.

Unable to collect my thou

ghts, I let my instincts take over and I break

into a run.

Forcing my exhausted legs to keep moving, my breath completely

ragged, I push on.

Wheeze…pant…

As I gulp down the cold air, pain seizes my chest.

My sides ache, and I can barely lift my feet.

But s

till, I keep running.

Another beam of light shoots at me from behind.

It hits the ground some distance away, barely missing me.

Remembering the blow that obliterated my head before, I feel my

feet grow heavy.

But if I stop moving now, it’ll be the end, so

I force myself to go on

with my last reserves of strength.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fear Resistance LV 3]

has become [Fear Resistance LV 4].>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Heresy Resistance LV 5]

has become

[Heresy Resistance LV 6].>

I hear a voice in my head, but I don’t have time to stop and think

about what it means.

How far have I run?

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166

I’ve lost all sense of time. I don’t know if it’s been minutes, hours, or

even days.

I just keep running, without any des

tination in mind.

Propelled forward by panic, I keep moving as far as my body will

carry me.

And just as I stop, thinking that I can’t run anymore, another light

beam comes toward me.

Then the cycle repeats itself.

That elderly mage won’t let me be.

Terrib

le fear washes over me, dragging my feet forward.

No matter where I run or how fast, that mage is always one step

ahead, waiting for me.

Gradually, the exhaustion wears on my mind, until my thoughts are

too hazy to come together properly.

<Proficiency has

reached the required level. Skill [Fear Resistance LV 4]

has become [Fear Resistance LV 5].>

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Heresy Resistance LV

6] has become [Heresy Resistance LV 7].>

At some point, the fear of not knowing how long I

have to run starts

to give way to a bubbling rage.

Why am I running away?

It’s only one person.

The old knight isn’t here.

I can kill him, can’t I?

Exhausted by all the running, resentful of the way I’ve been driven

into a corner, I feel my fear turn to a

nger.

That’s right.

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167

I don’t need to run.

If he intends to chase me wherever I go, I’ll just have to kill him.

I stop dead in my tracks.

A beam of light hurtles toward me.

It grazes my body, but I don’t feel the same kind of fear as before.

Instead, I’m ove

rcome with rage, strong enough to drive my body

forward.

“GRAAAAAH!”

Howling, I charge right toward the elderly mage.

“?!”

The old mage’s expression doesn’t change, but I can tell that he

gasps slightly.

Setting my flame katana ablaze, I swing it at the ol

d man.

The mage is unable to dodge my attack, and it cuts right through his

body.

“Huh?”

However, even though the blow definitely connected, it feels as if my

sword is cutting through air.

It’s so unexpected that I nearly lose my balance and fall forward.

Instead, I stumble two or three steps before regaining my balance.

My body passed right through the old mage.

“Wha

—

?”

For a moment, I’m not sure what’s happening.

It’s almost as if the old mage is just an illusion, and my sword and my

body both went right

through him.

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168

No, wait a second.

Not

almost.

Is that actually what’s happening?

An illusion?

I spin around immediately, but the old mage is no longer there.

Checking my surroundings frantically, I see a black

clad person

standing not far from where the old

mage appeared to be moments

before.

The person is dressed from head to toe in all black, like a ninja.

There’s not a hint of skin, so I can’t even tell if this person is human,

never mind what their gender might be.

“Fear dispelled. Illusion partially disp

elled.”

The black

clad person murmurs emotionlessly, and I finally have

some idea of what just happened to me.

Illusion

and

fear

Someone created the illusion that the old mage was still chasing me

and used some kind of skill to inflict fear on me so that

I wouldn’t

realize what was going on.

In video game terms, they used multiple status condition changes on

me.

If you’re aware what’s going on, then it’s nothing too major, but

having it done to you in real life is a terrifying combination.

I never knew peo

ple could fight like that in this world.

But more than being impressed, I feel the rage growing inside me.

Anger at myself, that I was fooled so easily into running away from

nothing.

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169

But most of all, anger at the person in front of me, who’s

responsible.

“Graaaaah!”

In a fit of rage, I charge toward the black

clad person.

But the person dodges easily, with movements so light and nimble

that they appear virtually weightless.

“Withdraw.”

With a simple word, the black

clad person turns around and flees.

“You’

re not getting away!”

I chase after them as they run.

Another chase scene, but this time the roles are reversed.

As I pursue the person in black, we seem to be moving at around the

same speed: I’m not getting any closer or farther away.

The person in black

just keeps running, never once looking back.

Eventually, we reach a place that seems somehow familiar.

Then the black

clad figure stops abruptly.

Without hesitation, I slice into their back with my sword.

But my attack goes straight through the person’s b

ody, jabbing into

the ground.

It’s the same feeling as before.

Another illusion?!

I’ve been had!

They must have switched out with an illusion sometime during the

chase.

Or maybe I was chasing an illusion from the very beginning.

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170

Realizing that I’ve been pl

aying into their hands the entire time, I

grind my teeth.

The anger is so strong that it threatens to turn my vision red.

Looking up, I see several people staring at me in shock.

Then, when I look more closely, I realize that I know this place.

It’s that a

wful village where I was once held captive.

But I killed everyone who lived here already.

Where did these people come from, then?

With a snap, the rage inside me starts to overflow.

“Aaaaargh!”

Unable to hold it back any longer, I cut the nearest person do

wn with

my sword.

Sliced in half by my flame katana, the two pieces of the corpse catch

flame.

Seeing that, the other people all start shouting something.

What are they saying?

I can hear the noises they’re making, but I can’t seem to process

them as words

It must be a different human language from the one I learned.

Well, whatever.

That doesn’t matter right now.

If they’re in this village, then I don’t care who they might be.

I’m going to kill all of them.

I start to cut down the next person.

At the same

time, a small girl runs over to me, shouting.

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171

“Sasajima!”

It’s a familiar name. My name. But not one that anyone in this world

should know.

Are the illusions so strong that they even affect my hearing?

Don’t call me by that name!

I have no right to answer

to that name anymore.

Kyouya Sasajima is the name of a human who died long ago.

As if to dispel the illusions, I swing my flame katana at the screaming

girl.

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172

THE

PONTIFF AND THE

SHADOW

AGENTS

“So you succeeded in luring the ogre to the empty village where the

elves were lying in wait?”

“Indeed. I used Heretic Magic to gu

ide it.”

“And the Appraisal of the ogre?”

“As you suspected.”

“…I see. So it really is a reincarnation.”

“…Then should we have done otherwise?”

“From your perspective, did it seem like it could communicate?”

“No.”

“Then that is your answer. If it causes ha

rm to the human race, then

it is an enemy of mine, reincarnation or otherwise.”

“As you say.”

“My apologies to your son. But this, too, is for the sake of humanity.”

“I am certain Sajin will understand.”

“I wonder. Unlike us, the reincarnations are victims

who were

brought to this world without their consent. If he knew that his own

father had chased one of his classmates to his death, then he would

surely grieve. Best to keep this incident a secret.”

“Yes.”

“Will you be able to monitor the battle between t

he ogre and the

elves?”

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173

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Excellent. Then please continue to keep watch. Take note of how

much damage the ogre is able to deal to the elves.”

“No, I was unclear. My apologies. The battle is already over.”

“Oh? That took much less

time than expected.”

“The elves only had ordinary forces, but I believe the main cause was

the ogre’s high combat capabilities.”

“Am I to gather from your turn of phrase that the elves were

defeated?”

“Indeed. Aside from one who appeared to be the elves’ c

ommanding

officer and a young elf girl, they have been completely annihilated.

The surviving pair fled via teleportation.”

“A commander and…a young girl?”

“Yes. Blond hair, blue eyes. Being an elf, her true age was difficult to

gauge, but in human terms, s

he appeared to be only two or three

years old. Her purpose there was unclear. She was not wearing any

special equipment at a glance. However, it’s possible that she was

attempting to call out to the ogre.”

“And were you able to read her lips?”

“Not in full

. She was too far away and not facing me entirely.”

“I would appreciate whatever you did understand or any educated

guesses.”

“

Sasaji…pleez lissen toomie…teechur.

That is all I was able to pick

up.”

“Well, that is certainly unclear. Ah, unless…perhaps it w

as the

language of the reincarnations…?”

“…”

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174

“…I suppose it’s too soon to tell. But no, perhaps we had best act

under that assumption. Thank you, your report has been invaluable.”

“Of course.”

“Now, what did the ogre do after the battle?”

“It began moving

toward the Mystic Mountains. Shall I pursue it?”

“The Mystic Mountains… No, there’s no need.”

“Are you certain?”

“What stage has the ogre’s Rage skill reached?”

“…Wrath.”

“Truly?! I see. That is indeed the worst case imaginable. Then we

should not make the

mistake of pursuing it. Let the ice dragons of

the Mystic Mountains take care of it. Even if the dragons do nothing,

it won’t be a problem if the ogre emerges in the land of demons. If it

takes up residence in the mountains, that is acceptable as well. As

long as the creature does not return here, there is no need to

provoke it. But we should continue to insert agents in the nearby

towns, just in case it does return.”

“Understood.”

“Then go about your business. Oh, and do not forget to follow up on

the sit

uation with Lady Ariel.”

“We have already used the Church to place pressure on the guild.

The adventurers and the imperial army will not lay a hand on her.”

“Excellent. Thank you for your service.”

“Of course.”

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175

CERTAIN

ADVENTURER

’

STEPS

I stare at the sword in my hand.

It has no scabbard, so its blade is bare.

The single

edg

e long sword with a slight curve is a design rarely seen

around here, where straight, double

edge blades are the norm.

The gleaming blade looks masterfully wrought, as if there isn’t a

thing it couldn’t cut through.

Just holding it in my hand seems to fill

me with power.

In fact, according to Sir Ronandt, who gave it to me, it really does

have the effect of strengthening its wielder.

On top of that, he said that it can control lightning.

Even compared to other magic swords with special effects, it’s in a

ass all its own.

I can’t even imagine how much money this single sword must be

worth.

If I sold it, I could probably live in luxury for the rest of my days.

Yet, despite how amazing this sword is, my feelings are mixed.

“Ahhh…”

A sigh escapes my lips.

Do I

really have any right to wield this sword…?

“‘Don’t interfere with them’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

This was a little while ago, when I went to the guild master’s office.

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176

I was there because I’d received orders from the guild master not to

interfere

with the group that showed up at the guild a few days ago,

the ones who were most likely demons.

“Dunno. But that’s what the Church told us. Seems they’re closely

linked with the Church, and they personally guarantee that there

won’t be any problems.”

“The

Church?”

My voice sounded doubtful, but I don’t think you could blame me for

that.

Why would someone working in service of the Word of God religion

be supporting such a shady group?

“S’right. So don’t try any funny business, got it?”

“…I don’t like it.”

“

Well, it don’t matter if you like it or not. Thanks to that ogre, this

town’s lost just about all its adventurers. You wanna pick a fight with

the Church in that state? You know the guild took out a huge loan

from the Church, yeah?”

I knew what the guild m

aster was getting at.

The Church is no ordinary religious group.

Many adventurers faithfully adhere to the Word of God religion,

which believes in honing one’s skills in order to hear the Divine

Voice.

As a result, the guild and the Church have a close con

nection, and

they frequently help each other.

What would happen if the guild was to take action against the wishes

of the Church?

The other guilds would all shun us, and the Church might even

withdraw its financial support.

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177

After the incident with the ogre

, that kind of trouble might even

bring our guild down entirely.

So the guild would probably prefer to cut off any adventurer who

caused trouble like that.

In this case, that means me.

It’s the guild master’s job to protect the guild, so I can’t blame him

for prioritizing the Church’s desires over mine.

I understood all that, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

“Should we talk to the imperial army?”

“If the Church says they’re not a problem, do you really think that’s a

good idea?”

“Right.”

If we went to t

he imperial army about this, it’d be like ignoring what

the Church told us.

“Gotou. I don’t know what’s got you all worked up about this, but

the Church gave us their word. If they’re that confident about it, I’m

sure it’ll be fine. There’s no sense in jum

ping to conclusions here,

okay? If anything does happen, the blame’ll fall on the Church for

telling us not to worry when we raised suspicions, not us. We’ll just

let the Church handle it, yeah?”

The guild master was right, of course.

But I couldn’t help f

eeling like if we left that group to their own

devices, something terrible was going to happen.

Just then, the door swung open, and two old men entered.

“Pardon the intrusion. Oh, Guild Master, perfect timing.”

It was Sir Ronandt and Sir Nyudoz of the impe

rial army, who’d been

sent out to deal with the ogre.

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178

“You’ve returned safely! That must mean you were able to defeat

that ogre, then!”

The guild master looked excited, but Ronandt’s expression was

grave.

“Well, about that. Unfortunately, I cannot quite sa

y that we defeated

it.”

Sir Ronandt is the world’s strongest mage, and Nyudoz is a master of

swordsmanship.

And yet, even with them leading an army, they weren’t able to

defeat that ogre.

It’s a bit hard to believe, but Sir Ronandt would have no reason to

lie.

“Th

then it got away…?”

“Indeed. But we can discuss the details somewhere quieter.”

“All right. We’ll go to the upstairs room, then.”

The guild master and the old men headed for the stairs.

As they went, the guild master shot me a meaningful glance.

t came out as more of a glare, so he was probably warning me not to

say anything reckless.

But in the next moment, Sir Ronandt rendered that look

meaningless.

“Hrm. If I may?”

With that, Sir Ronandt turned his gaze toward me, and I suddenly felt

a strange

sensation assail my body.

I’m not too familiar with it, but I could still tell it was the feeling of

being Appraised.

“Oh

ho. Rather impressive. Come along with us, then.”

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179

Sir Ronandt must have approved of my Appraisal results, because he

invited me along.

The guild master and I both stared, dumbfounded, but the two

elders went on ahead as if it was perfectly natural.

You never can tell what these big shots are thinking.

Thus, I got a rare glimpse inside the guild master’s room, and Sir

Ronandt allowed me t

o listen in on the tale of their battle with the

ogre.

As the man himself said, it seemed as if both sides suffered losses.

What would have happened if the ogre had stayed and fought

instead of fleeing?

Honestly, I’m not so sure anymore.

And it seems that

Sir Ronandt and the others couldn’t tell, either.

Which was probably why he decided to entrust it to the servant of

the Church who appeared directly afterward.

When I heard that, my first thought was:

The Church again?

Until now, I’d never paid much mind t

o the Church, but now I’m

beginning to find it highly suspicious.

“They certainly have their secrets, but I have faith in their abilities if

nothing else. If they say that they will take care of it, then there is no

need to worry about the ogre any longer.

”

As an important person who has supported the empire for countless

years, it seems that Sir Ronandt has his share of experience with the

Church.

If Ronandt says it is so, then we should assume that the ogre is as

good as dealt with.

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180

“And as far as the gro

up that the Church told you not to interfere

with that you were discussing before, I believe it best to trust them

on that count as well.”

“…You heard all of that?”

“I might not look it, but I’ve got a good pair of ears. Think you can

keep up, youngster?”

In contrast to the guild master’s grim expression, Sir Ronandt wore a

mischievous grin.

He and the other elder were outside while we had that conversation

inside the guild.

How good must his ears be if he could hear through walls?

“At any rate, we shall no

t be making any further moves. In fact, we

cannot. We must take measures to make up for the adventurers who

were lost in this incident. Starting with setting up a patrol of soldiers

in and around this town. The guild is short on manpower, is it not?”

True

enough, since the ogre defeated us so handily, we lost a great

deal of adventurers.

That meant it had gotten harder to fend off monsters, defend

travelers going from town to town, securing supplies, and so on.

Worse, it wasn’t just this town’s adventurers

who were wiped out by

the ogre

—

there were many losses among the adventurers from

neighboring towns and villages as well.

Which meant this whole region was currently short on adventurers.

If the imperial army was going to help shoulder that burden, it’d be

big help.

“So you understand this means we have no time to waste getting

mixed up with a group of travelers who may or may not be

dangerous. I wouldn’t mind investigating personally, but the Word of

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181

God religion has been displeased with me since the hero

incident. If I

anger them any further, it will likely lead to more than just a

demotion for me. I am sorry.”

So the rumors that he took on the young hero as an apprentice and

nearly killed him in the name of “training” are true.

I doubt the Church would m

ake an enemy of the peerless mage

Ronandt unless they had a serious reason for doing so.

“Thus, you see, there is nothing we can do. If anything happens, you

shall simply have to complain to the Church.”

It wasn’t exactly reassuring, but there was nothing

else to be done.

I’d have to do my best to accept it, even if it still bothered me.

But then Sir Ronandt added a new concern to my list of troubles.

“Nyudoz. Give it here.”

“Hrmmm?! Can I speak now?!”

“Not yet. You’re too loud. Just give me that thing we t

alked about

and stay quiet.”

“Hrmmmph!”

Grumbling, Sir Nyudoz lapsed back into silence.

Just as Sir Ronandt said, his voice was painfully loud, so it was

probably for the best.

He may be an amazing swordsman and all, but still.

“Here. You can have this.”

ir Ronandt handed me the object that Sir Nyudoz had passed to

him: a magic sword.

And now that same sword is in my hand.

It’s one of the magic swords that the ogre had wielded.

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182

When it fought Sir Ronandt and company, it seems the ogre left

behind one of it

s swords as it fled.

The imperial army took it back with them as the spoils of war, but for

some reason, Sir Ronandt saw fit to give it to me.

I did my best to refuse, insisting that I couldn’t accept it, but he

forced it on me anyway.

“What am I supposed

to do with this?”

I stare at the sword, at a loss.

I didn’t accomplish anything in the battle with that ogre.

Do I really have any right to receive this sword?

No, I don’t think so.

Maybe I should go return it after all.

Besides, I was already thinking abo

ut quitting the adventurer

business.

I ran away from the ogre, and Regg and my other adventurer friends

are all dead.

I’ve lost my confidence and drive.

So I figured once things settled down, I’d retire from adventuring and

spend the rest of my days at my

leisure.

But if I quit now that there are so few adventurers left already, this

guild might actually be done for.

I planned to just keep at it half

heartedly until the guild pulled itself

together, but now that I’ve been given this fancy sword, I feel like

have no choice but to work like a dog.

Reaping the rewards even though I was no help at all in the fight

against the ogre would make everyone think less of me.

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183

Especially the friends and family of the adventurers who were lost.

If I toss them aside and

accept this gift, I wouldn’t blame them for

hating me.

The only way to avoid being subjected to all that resentment would

be to work hard to contribute to our town’s recovery.

“Ugh. What am I gonna do?”

As I grumble to myself, the door of the guild opens.

“Ah, Mr. Gotou.”

Turning around, I see Rukusso enter.

He was severely wounded in the ogre battle, but he got treated just

in time to survive.

If the healing had happened any later, he’d probably be dead.

Although Regg gave up his own life to buy enough tim

e for me to get

him to a healer…

“Rukusso, eh? What is it?”

Rukusso is dressed in casual clothes.

They’re the clothes of a civilian, not an adventurer.

That’s not how people dress to go to the adventurers’ guild.

“Mr. Gotou… I think I’m going to quit being

an adventurer.”

“I see.”

I kind of suspected that was what he would say.

There are probably quite a few adventurers like me who are thinking

about quitting after everything that happened.

Rukusso is just one more of that number.

“And I’m probably going to

leave town, too.”

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184

“I see.”

This isn’t too surprising, either.

This town is full of memories of his time spent adventuring with his

friends.

It’d probably be tough to stay here, constantly being reminded of all

that.

“D’you know where you’re gonna go?”

“Ye

s. I intend to go back home to my family. My parents are farmers,

but I ran away to become an adventurer because I didn’t want to

take over the farm. I’m going to go back, apologize to my parents,

and start over.”

Many adventurers tend to be outcasts.

In a

profession that so many people have joined because they have

no other options, Rukusso is one of the lucky few who has

somewhere to go back to.

“Gotcha. Well, you’ll be missed.”

“Thank you. I wanted to make sure I spoke to you before I left, Mr.

Gotou, si

nce you’ve done so much for me. I only wish that I could

give my thanks to Mr. Regg, too.”

The man who died protecting Rukusso.

I’m sure that’s a heavy burden on the young man’s heart.

“C’mon now. You knew him. I’m sure he’d just yell at you not to look

gloomy.”

“Ha

ha. I suppose you’re right.”

“He saved your life. So the least you can do for him is be more

positive like he was and lead a long, happy life, yeah? That way he’ll

know it was worth laying down his own life.”

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185

That’s the kind of man Regg was.

He wouldn’t hesitate. He’d be proud to die protecting his comrades.

“Right. I will!”

Rukusso nods tearfully.

“Take care of yourself, kid.”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Gotou, I always looked up to you and Mr. Regg. I wasn’t

able to become an amazing adventurer like you

two, but you both

saved my life, so I’ll treasure it forever!”

“Good. Find yourself a pretty wife or something, have some kids and

grandkids. Just make sure you’ll be able to say it was a good life in

the end.”

“Yes, sir! I guess I’d better start looking f

or lovers, then.”

“That’s the way!”

Both of us chuckle, and I stick out my hand.

Rukusso grasps it and gives me a firm handshake.

“Take care.”

“You too, Mr. Gotou. Do your best out there.”

Rukusso smiles warmly as he leaves.

Do my best, huh?

I’m sure he di

dn’t mean it that way, but the timing is pretty pointed.

“…I guess I’ll try to do my best a little longer.”

Since Regg saved his life and all, it wouldn’t hurt to try to be the kind

of man who Rukusso would continue to look up to.

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186

’

TTING THE

ROAD

It’s been a few days since the elves attacked.

After that spike of excitement, things have been uneventful around

here.

Just like the previous two yea

rs, at least up until the attack in

question.

From the UFO incident two years ago until just recently, Potimas has

been alarmingly silent.

Knowing his personality, you’d think he’d come after us the second

he spotted a weak point.

Since I became a god, I’v

e basically got nothing

but

weak points, yet

there hasn’t even been a peep, never mind an attack.

Frankly, it’s almost a bit of a letdown, but it also makes me even

more paranoid.

Like, he’s definitely in the middle of preparing some new evil plot,

right?

And yet, when he finally makes a move after two years of silence, it’s

just some weak attempt to kidnap the baby bloodsucker via

teleportation? That’s kinda small potatoes for Potimas.

Considering how long it’s been since last contact, it seems like a

pret

ty sloppy plan, so I’m kinda confused about why he didn’t try

something more impressive.

I mean, sure, using Teleport to kidnap someone is pretty effective.

If you suddenly grabbed someone and disappeared with them to

who knows where, we’d have a hard time

following up.

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187

There’d be no way of knowing where they teleported, after all, or if

it’s even within a distance that we could follow them.

Frankly, teleporting should be against the rules.

There aren’t many mages who can use it in the first place, so I dou

even Potimas has many teleport users on his side, but I can’t rule out

the possibility entirely.

Assuming he sent one of his precious teleport users after us, maybe

this was meant to be a serious attack? But I don’t know why he

would use a little girl f

or that, so all I can do is scratch my head over

here.

Yep, it’s a mystery.

The Demon Lord has been making some troubled expressions lately,

so maybe she’s thinking the same thing I am.

Or, I dunno, maybe she’s hiding something from me.

For some reason, it

kinda seems like she’s waffling about something

or other.

It’s like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t have evidence

to back it up, so she’s keeping it to herself.

Of course, knowing her, she keeping quiet for my sake, and she’ll spit

it out if t

he need arises.

Since I’m no use in battle right now, there’s probably nothing I can

do to help anyway, so I’ll just trust in the Demon Lord’s plan for now.

And what is her plan, you ask? Operation: Stay Inside!

Yep. We’re just holing up in the inn and goi

ng out as little as possible.

This way, we can’t be unexpectedly attacked, and it’s easy to keep

our guard up.

What happens if they attack the inn?

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188

Well, I guess that’s the inn’s problem.

Sorry, inn. But if you’re gonna blame anyone, blame the people

attac

king us.

Besides, if they fought seriously, the Demon Lord or the puppet

spiders could level this whole town, never mind the inn.

Fortunately, that hasn’t happened, so everything is peaceful for now.

You got lucky this time, inn.

So what have we been doing

while we’re stuck inside, you ask? Well,

Professor Demon Lord has been giving us a crash course on skills.

“You there, Jealousy Girl.”

“That’s not very nice, but I suppose you’re not wrong. What is it?”

“Why must you never raise your Jealousy skill level?

You have ten

seconds to answer, please.”

“Erm… Because the Seven Deadly Sins skills can affect your mind and

soul?”

“Is that your final answer?”

“…Yes, it is.”

“Thaaaat’s right!”

Miss Demon Lord, isn’t this comedy routine a little old?

“The Seven Deadly S

ins skills influence your thoughts and emotions

based on their respective sins, or rather, based on the original

holders of each skill. In other words! Since you have the Jealousy

skill, Sophia, you’re prone to becoming crazy stalker!”

The Demon Lord point

s sternly at Vampy.

A crazy stalker, huh…?

Wait. Is it just me, or is it already too late for that?

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189

“Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t be affected by any such thing.”

The baby bloodsucker stares at the Demon Lord with narrowed eyes.

The Demon Lord and I star

e right back.

This is the problem with crazy stalker girls. No self

awareness.

“Wh

why are you looking at me like that?”

“Aaanyway, just make sure you don’t raise your Jealousy skill any

more, all right? It’s not good; we’ll leave it at that.”

I guess that

’s what the Demon Lord wanted to say.

“Try to avoid the other Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly

Virtues skills, too. The Pride line, the Wrath line, and the Greed line

are especially dangerous.”

“What about Gluttony, Lust, and Sloth?”

“You won’t get the

Gluttony line as long as you don’t overeat, so

you’re probably fine. Besides, even if you do get it, that one doesn’t

corrupt your mind too badly. And at your age, you shouldn’t have to

worry about Lust, either. Erm, you don’t, right?”

“Why would you phra

se that as a question? No, I wouldn’t worry.”

I wonder about that…

“Okay. Let’s just agree not to worry, then. And Sloth barely corrupts

your mind at all, so that’s not a problem.”

“Sloth? That sounds like the kind of thing that would cause serious

corrupt

ion…”

Yeah, really.

It seems like it’d turn you into a lazy good

for

nothing.

“Oh, well, the Sloth line’s special. Like, the original holder of Sloth

wanted to slack off but couldn’t and even ended up dying of

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190

overwork in the end. See, I know what it sound

s like, but it actually

just makes your enemy’s SP go down faster. So it really just means

that the user works harder while everyone around them loses the

ability to work at all.”

Now that she mentions it, I guess it’s true that the effect of Sloth was

make the enemy’s HP, MP, and SP go down more rapidly.

Instead of letting the user rest, it kind of forces the enemy to rest.

“So even if you do get it, it doesn’t have a huge effect on your mind.

It is super

bad luck, though.”

Bad luck? But I used to have

that skill…

Let’s just not think about that.

“So as for the bad ones, the Pride line of skills makes you gain more

experience. That might sound like a good thing, but I can’t say I

recommend it.”

Ding

ding

ding!

Hello, I had that skill!

I had Pride!

“Sure,

gaining extra experience might sound like a really good deal in

theory, but it’s bad news. For one thing, it seriously messes with your

head. You’ll start seeing every living thing as a potential source of

experience points. It practically turns you into

a berserker.”

Ding

ding

ding!

Are you saying I was that bad?!

The worst part is I can’t say you’re entirely wrong!

“And the skill’s effect comes with a serious pitfall, too. Basically, it

forces the holder to keep growing at a rapid pace. And everyone has

limits. If you just keep on gaining more and more experience without

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191

taking those limits into account, eventually it’ll be your undoing. Like,

literally.”

Ding

ding

ding!

Are you saying I was literally doomed?!

Was I, like, just steps away from bursting li

ke a balloon?!

That’s so freaking scary!

“So make sure you don’t pick up the Pride line of skills, all right?”

“Okay.”

The baby bloodsucker nods, probably intimidated by the Demon

Lord’s grim face and the terrifying potential of the Pride skills.

It’s fine

, though.

I mean, I didn’t explode, and Pride wound up being a huge help to

me.

So I don’t regret picking up Pride at all!

Not even a little!

“The Wrath line is almost as scary, but just picking up the skill isn’t

too bad. The real problem with Wrath is wh

at happens after you

activate it.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you activate a Wrath

line skill, your stats go way up. It

doesn’t cost any MP or SP, either. Obviously that makes it sound

awesome, but it comes with some serious caveats. Basically, you lose

you

r mind.”

Hoo, boy.

I used to have Anger, the lowest step on the Wrath line of skills.

But I tried it only once, then never used it again.

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192

“When you activate it, you start seeing red. It makes you want to go

on a rampage basically. And the more time passes,

the worse the

effects get, until you don’t even have the presence of mind to turn

the skill off anymore. Pride might wrap you into a bit of a berserker,

but this one literally makes you go mad.”

“Is there any way to get back to normal?”

“Nope. You either

have to turn off the skill or die. And once your

mind has been afflicted by Wrath, it becomes harder to stay in

control. So even if you get any Wrath skills, make sure you never,

ever activate it.”

Ding

ding

diiing!

I did it only once, but I definitely did

activate it!

I turned it off right away, though, ’cause it seemed like bad news.

I didn’t realize

how

bad, obviously. Yikes, that was close.

“As for the Greed line, well, you can probably see how that would be

bad, right? There’s a certain dignity to bein

g poor, you know.”

Even as the Demon Lord says that, she’s stretching her legs out and

drinking some pretty expensive alcohol.

What happened to being honorable?

Eventually, after we lived as shut

ins for a while, the path out of

town was finally reopened.

Word is they chased away that ogre.

I’m a little concerned that it’s “chased away” and not “killed,”

though.

Especially since, as it happens, the army chased the ogre into the

Mystic Mountains.

“Well, if that’s not foreshadowing…”

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193

The Demon Lord frowns ser

iously.

“But the Mystic Mountains is a whole region made up of an

enormous mountain range. It’s awfully unlikely that we’d run into it,

no?”

Vampy rolls her eyes, but the Demon Lord clicks her tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So naive. Sophia, you innocent little a

ngel. You’re

underestimating our ability to attract trouble like a magnet.”

The Demon Lord looks smug, causing the bloodsucker to roll her eyes

even harder.

Sure, if you think about it logically, the odds of us running into one

ogre in a big ol’ mountain r

ange are pretty low.

But when you think about all the trouble we’ve gotten caught up in

on our journey so far, then yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna run

into it!

“Either way, it doesn’t change our plans. We’ll just hope we don’t

run into it, but I don’t r

eally care if we do.”

The Demon Lord shrugs off the subject and starts getting ready to

depart.

Some random ogre isn’t any threat to the Demon Lord, so what does

she care?

It’s probably best for us to head into the mountains before we get

mixed up in any m

ore funny business in this town.

From what I’m told, there’s at least one adventurer in this town who

thinks we’re a bunch of demons, and they’ve even told the imperial

army about their suspicions.

If we hang around here too long, we might get into a scuff

le with the

army, so we’re heading for the hills before that happens.

“Come back anytime!”

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194

The innkeeper lady smiles brightly as she sees us off on our way out

of town.

Since the inn could’ve gotten destroyed because of us if things went

south, I guess the

Demon Lord paid her a little extra for her trouble.

But from the innkeeper’s perspective, we were just good customers

who left a generous tip, so it makes sense for her to treat us so

nicely.

Whew. I’m really glad the inn didn’t get destroyed.

Not long af

ter, we make our way to an abandoned village at the foot

of the Mystic Mountains without any trouble.

We had no problems getting out of town and none on the way here.

I was afraid we’d have trouble with the army during the former or

with the elves during t

he latter, but it was actually a perfectly

peaceful journey.

Maybe

too

peaceful, in fact?

Honestly, at this point I’m almost a little disappointed that nobody’s

coming after us.

But as soon as we arrive in the village, that feeling vanishes.

The state of t

he abandoned village is…disturbing.

Based on the information we gathered before coming, this place was

attacked by someone

—

most likely that ogre

—

and got destroyed.

No one has tried to rebuild it since then, so the ruins have just been

sitting here abandone

Part of the reason is that as soon as the village was built, it was

basically treated as a base camp for anyone trying to pass through

the Mystic Mountains.

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195

Since this place was destroyed, it was just taken as even more proof

that the Mystic Mountains a

re too difficult to pass, so nobody

wanted to fix it up.

We knew all that going in, but even if we hadn’t, it’s not too

surprising that there’s no one here.

Most of the houses are run

down, and there are dark

red stains all

over the place.

If you think abo

ut the reason this village is now abandoned, the

identity of those stains becomes all too apparent.

This must have been a horrifically violent tragedy.

Given these conditions, no normal person would want to try to live

here again, even if some of the house

s were intact.

“Hrm. Guess we’ll stay in one of these houses for the night.”

But I guess you can’t exactly say that any of us is normal in this

group.

Leave it to the Demon Lord to want to stay the night in a village

that’s almost certainly haunted.

But ye

ah, I guess I’m down to stay here, too.

If it’ll keep me out of the wind and rain, I’ll stay in a haunted house

or village or whatever else.

I hate sleeping outside in the cold!

“Wait a minute.”

Just then, Vampy starts sniffing the air and making a face an

d calls

out for us to stop.

She’s sniffing all over the place like crazy. Are you a dog or what?

“I smell old blood

and

fresh blood. Why do you think that is?”

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196

Hrm?

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that a vampire can tell the difference.

Wait, but what doe

s she mean,

fresh

blood?

The old blood obviously has to be from the villagers who were killed

here.

So who does the fresh blood belong to?

Does that mean someone else has died here since the village was

abandoned?

“Oh, you noticed? I think it’s the smell o

f elf blood.”

The Demon Lord sniffs casually as she responds.

Wow, so we’ve got an even bigger blood expert than the vampire

here.

So it’s elf blood, huh? Got it.

…Wait, what?

“I bet they were lying in wait here for us. But it seems like someone

else attac

ked and wiped them out. I guess it must’ve been the ogre

that was fleeing in this direction, no?”

Oh wow. That’s…uh… Yikes.

Talk about bad luck.

I guess if you’re going to pass through the Mystic Mountains, it’ll

almost certainly be by way of this village.

And since there’s no one else around, it’d be easy to attack us and

get away with it.

It’s the perfect spot for an ambush.

But before we got here, the ogre that was being chased down by the

imperial army showed up and attacked them instead.

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197

Sucks to be th

em.

I’d almost feel bad, if they weren’t out to kill us.

“You’re saying they

lost

to the ogre?”

Vampy sounds surprised.

Hey, that’s a good point, actually.

Those elf bastards got done in by an ogre?

I dunno what kind of forces they brought with them, but i

f they were

planning to take on the Demon Lord, they must have prepared

accordingly.

And they still couldn’t beat that ogre?

Uh, maybe this thing is scarier than I thought.

“Yeah.” The Demon Lord nods. “Based on the evidence, that’s the

only explanation I

can think of.”

Gotcha. So the elves were definitely beaten by that ogre.

If it was an orc, you’d have the makings of some steamy fanfic here.

No, I guess it’d work with an ogre, too.

One pile of elf smut, coming right up.

There might even be some BL potent

ial, since Potimas literally got

ripped a new butthole two years ago.

By me, that is.

Why am I letting my mind wander in such a stupid direction? No

matter how scary strong that ogre might be, I’m sure there’s no way

it’d be a match for the Demon Lord.

She

’s easily the strongest being in the world.

The only way to stand a chance of beating the Demon Lord would be

to have power outside of the system.

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198

You know, like Güli

güli or Potimas.

But Güli

güli’s a special case, and even Potimas couldn’t necessarily

at her.

No matter how strong the ogre is, as long as its strength is defined by

the system, it doesn’t stand a chance against the Demon Lord.

Otherwise, it’d be a serious problem for me, the Demon Lord’s

favorite freeloader!

“Hrmmm.”

The Demon Lord strokes

her chin, as if she knows I’ve been silently

praising her.

There’s a hint of more complicated emotions in her expression,

though.

She’s clearly deep in thought about something.

I don’t want to interrupt her brainstorming session, so I look around

at the a

bandoned village again.

The traces of blood on the walls are fresh, hinting at a brutal

massacre.

But now that I think about it, that’s all there is.

If the Demon Lord or the puppet spiders went all

out in battle, the

damage would be way worse than this.

very last house would be demolished without a trace, and there

might not even be any blood left at all.

Because when these guys fight, they literally obliterate their

enemies.

There wouldn’t even be bodies left to bury.

I should know, since the Demon Lord

actually did blow me to bits

once.

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199

Man, I seriously thought I was a goner that time. I would have been,

too, if I didn’t have the Immortality skill.

Once you’ve seen that kind of insanely destructive power, a situation

like this where there’s proof left be

hind seems totally banal by

comparison.

It’s clearly the aftermath of a battle, but one within the scope of

human comprehension, at least.

If Potimas had busted out the kind of weapons he used in the battle

against the UFO two years ago, the kind he would

probably use to

deal with the Demon Lord, it wouldn’t look like this.

Those weapons are on the level of insanity, too.

If they’d been used in the battle, I don’t think this village would still

be standing.

In fact, no matter how strong the ogre is, I don’t

think it would’ve

bested the elves if they had those weapons.

Which means that the elves were lying in wait without any fancy

weapons.

Hrm? Is it just me, or does something smell fishy here?

Between this and the previous attack, I just can’t figure out wh

Potimas is trying to do.

For our first contact in two years, it certainly doesn’t seem like

Potimas is seriously trying to kill us.

Potimas should know better than most that you can’t beat the

Demon Lord with some half

baked plan.

So if he set up an amb

ush without any weapons, it’s almost like he

wasn’t expecting to win.

Like he was just wasting manpower for no reason.

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200

But why would Potimas do something so pointless?

It’s not like I know him that well or anything, but I’ve got a certain

sense of his pers

onality.

Based on what I know about him, these actions don’t make any

sense.

It’s almost like I’m missing some key piece of the puzzle.

The Demon Lord’s current attitude just adds more credibility to that

theory.

Has she noticed something that I haven’t?

s I look at her, she keeps glancing toward me and Vampy, then

quickly averting her eyes.

“Well, this means less enemies for us without us having to do any

work. Let’s just say it worked out in our favor, hmm?”

What’s up with that?

It’s an awfully vague, ha

hearted stance for the Demon Lord to

take.

She’s definitely gotta be hiding something.

“It doesn’t seem like there are any elves or ogres around, so this

place is probably safe. Let’s spend the night here and start making

our way through the Mystic Moun

tains tomorrow, shall we? This’ll

be our last chance to take a nice, long rest for a while, so make sure

you really recharge.”

In the end, the Demon Lord doesn’t tell us whatever it is she’s

keeping to herself.

Well, if she doesn’t think we need to know, t

hen she’s probably right.

I’m sure there’s nothing I’d be able to do anyway, so it’s probably

best not to ask.

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201

It would be some time until I finally found out what the Demon Lord

was hiding.

About the despicable plan that Potimas had for the reincarnations

Was it for the best that I didn’t find out at the time, or was it a

terrible mistake?

I still can’t say for sure.

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202

TEACHER

We return to the elf village via teleportation

“Hrmmm. This is certainly unexpected.”

As I look at the back of the small, despairing figure in front of me, I

murmur to myself quietly enough that she cannot hear.

Though as she trembles with her hands pressed to the ground, I

doubt she would hear me an

yway.

This little girl’s name is Filimøs.

I, Potimas Harrifenas, am her father.

However, she is usually called Oka.

She has been reincarnated into this world after coming from

another, retaining her previous memories, which is why she prefers

to be called

by her old name.

It’s a symptom of her lingering regret and attachment to her old life.

Oka’s feelings about her old world seem to be quite strong.

Otherwise, she would never have had the idea to gather the other

reincarnations from all over the world, for

no other reason than that

they are from the same place.

Even with the skill she has that would suggest such a thing.

Oka’s unique skill, Student Roster, conveys information about the

reincarnations.

The skill gives only specific information, and only abou

reincarnations, so it is not a terribly user

friendly skill.

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203

On top of that, the information it gives is incredibly sparse, leaving

much to be desired in the way of details.

Frankly, the skill is completely useless.

Or at least, it would be, were it not

in my hands.

I have a powerful organization at my command that I have built up

over many years: the elves.

If I use them well, I can make great use of even that limited

information.

We have now succeeded in gathering more than half the

reincarnations.

The

only other individual who would have been able to make such

good use of Oka’s skill is most likely the Pontiff of the Word of God

religion, Dustin.

If Oka had fallen into his hands, it would have been very

inconvenient indeed.

To that end, I must profess t

hanks to whatever divine intervention

delivered Oka to me.

Thus far, things have gone rather swimmingly, but it will likely be

more difficult from this point on.

It’s safe to say that this most recent incident was a failure beyond

even my imagination.

“Why

…?” Oka murmurs in a trembling voice.

I cannot see her face from here, but it is easy to tell that she is in

considerable shock.

From what she has told me, Oka’s old world was a fairly peaceful

one.

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204

By comparison, this experience must have been too shockin

g for her

to bear.

After all, aside from Oka and myself, our entire party was

slaughtered.

To make matters worse for her, that situation was caused by one of

her fellow reincarnations.

From her perspective, one of her own students perpetrated this

massacre

, which must be difficult to swallow.

Reincarnation though she may be, she is still a child of less than

thirty years between her two lives, so perhaps this was too harsh a

thing for her to witness.

What happened exactly?

The simplest explanation is that w

e were attacked by an ogre.

But on a deeper level, it was actually the result of all kinds of

complicated, interwoven circumstances, making it difficult to get the

full story.

Even I cannot grasp everything that took place.

It began, I suppose, when I plan

ned to tease Ariel and her

companions.

Yes, tease.

A childish act, I must admit, but there is no more accurate way to

describe it, as it held no deeper meaning.

Since Ariel travels with two reincarnations, I thought it would be

amusing to introduce them to

Oka and force them to fight each

other.

Ariel has a surprisingly compassionate side, despite appearances.

And she cares deeply, too deeply, for her companions.

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205

So if her companions were forced to clash with one of their own, it

would no doubt be distressi

ng for her.

In the end,

distress

is the most I expected to accomplish, since I

doubt it would be enough to enable me to deal with her.

That is why I must describe it as

teasing

All it would accomplish is reveal the depth of my resentment, as such

an actio

n is entirely cost

ineffective.

But I suppose, after the humiliation they put me through, I had to do

something of the sort for my own peace of mind.

It was especially spiteful to wait until Oka had grown a bit before

carrying out the plan, if I do say so

myself.

But when I finally attempted it after two years, there was an

unexpected problem.

It was all well and good when the vampire girl attacked us at first.

In fact, that was exactly what I wanted.

I was not certain what would happen if I allowed Oka to

try to speak

to her first as she wished, but I hadn’t imagined that she would just

attack blindly.

Although I suppose I knew Ariel had already raised the vampire girl

to be distrustful of elves.

In fact, I am not sure why I didn’t expect to be attacked.

ill, from my point of view, the girl’s speedy and decisive reaction

was even better than I could have hoped.

If we had teleported away a second later, Oka would have died.

That normally would not be a problem, but if Oka died before they

figured out who sh

e was, then I’d lose my chance to torment them

successfully.

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206

That would be a bit of a shame.

However, Oka’s value has gone down considerably since she was first

born.

Thanks to the information from her Student Roster skill, we’ve

collected most of the rein

carnations.

And we already have a general idea of where the others are.

If we wanted to capture them, we probably could, but it would be

foolish to lay a hand on the children of royalty or other powerful

families too carelessly.

We already have more than t

he sample size we need, so there is no

point in going after the others needlessly.

Besides, Dustin has already made his move with the hero. It would

be unwise to take any more actions that are too obvious.

And if we can no longer make any serious moves reg

arding the

reincarnations, Oka’s value is considerably lowered.

She still has value, but it would be no major blow to lose her.

She’s useful to have around, but it’s not particularly a problem if

she’s not.

That is Oka’s current value to me.

So I thought i

t would be fine if she died in the process of this teasing,

but…

“Oka.” I address the still

trembling girl. “Was that really a

reincarnation?”

At my question, she jumps to her feet.

Raising her head, she looks at me with a face still red with tears.

“Erm!

That, well… I

it’s just…”

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207

She opens her mouth, but the words that come out are nonsensical.

I suppose she doesn’t know what to say herself.

But amid her stammering, I suspect that some part of her is still

trying to cover for that creature.

Shall I summari

ze her probable thoughts?

That was definitely a reincarnation, but she believes he had a reason

for acting that way.

“Oka,” I repeat coldly as she continues to mumble. “Give up. That

thing was no longer human.”

Oka freezes up in shock at that.

I’m sure she

knows that herself, deep down. She simply does not

wish to admit it.

Watching her dazed expression, I let my mind drift back to what

happened before.

We led a unit of elves to the abandoned village at the foot of the

Mystic Mountains to lie in wait.

It wa

s originally built to help the empire conquer the Mystic

Mountains, but for some reason or other, all the villagers died, or so I

am told.

Because of that incident, no one ever comes near the empty village.

However, if Ariel and the others are aiming to cr

oss the Mystic

Mountains, they would have no choice but to pass through the

village.

It sits directly in front of the entrance to the mountain range, after

all.

Even if they tried to avoid it, we would be able to figure that out

from the abandoned village.

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208

It was the ideal place for an ambush…until that thing showed up.

“GRAAAAH!”

The ogre howled as it ran straight down the road toward the village.

Were it any ordinary ogre, this would not be a problem.

Because Oka was with us, I brought only ordinary elves

without any

special weapons.

However, they were still skilled fighters specializing in magic.

After all, they were meant to take on Ariel, even if I did not expect

them to win.

They were really present only for my peace of mind. They were

moderately usefu

l yet ultimately expendable soldiers.

There was no reason they shouldn’t have been able to handle an

ogre.

And yet, Oka and I were the only survivors.

Even I would have fallen if I were not in a body that could use Spatial

Magic.

I had heard that it defeat

ed some adventurers, so I knew it was no

ordinary ogre, but I never expected it to be that exceptional.

I already had my suspicions that the ogre might be a reincarnation.

There was one reincarnation on Oka’s Student Roster who fit the

description.

The inf

ormation contained on the Student Roster is the

reincarnation’s place of birth, current condition, and the time and

cause of their death.

This one was born in the Mystic Mountains, its condition had been

fluctuating wildly these past few days, and its time

and cause of

death were constantly being revised.

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209

When a reincarnation’s condition fluctuates, that means they are in

the midst of a battle.

And each time the time and cause of death are updated, it means

they have avoided the possibility of dying in thei

r current battle.

The death information already tends to be vague, and it often

doesn’t end up coming true.

But when it changes that frequently, it means the reincarnation in

question is repeatedly coming close to death.

Taking all this information into ac

count, I strongly suspected that the

ogre in question was a reincarnation.

After all, it was constantly getting into battles near the Mystic

Mountains and using decidedly un

ogre

like strategies to defeat

adventurers.

I was all but certain, but I decided t

o prioritize Ariel and company

instead.

For even if the ogre was a reincarnation, there would be little point

in bringing it to the elf village.

Reincarnations are difficult to keep as pets unless they are

powerless.

If this ogre has already defeated multi

ple adventurers, it would be

far too difficult to control.

This is why I chose not to tell Oka that the imperial army was

attempting to subjugate the ogre, and I even thought it might be for

the best if they succeeded.

Oka was quite concerned about the cre

ature and had talked me into

promising that we would search for it after dealing with Ariel.

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210

Either way, I agreed because I assumed that she would no longer be

able to worry about the ogre after encountering Ariel, although it has

certainly come back to bi

te me now.

Especially because I have no doubt that Dustin was involved in the

matter.

For the ogre to just happen upon us with such impeccable timing is

all but unthinkable. No doubt someone was manipulating the ogre

behind the scenes.

My guess is that Dus

tin’s beloved pet project

—

those covert

operatives of his

—

was responsible for guiding the ogre straight to

our location.

I must admit, though they are my enemy, they are infuriatingly

competent.

However, since we were able to confirm that the ogre was a

rei

ncarnation in the project, I suppose I shall let it pass.

After all, my goal was only to tease Ariel and her little friends.

It was not a particularly constructive plan, nor was its failure a

terribly big loss.

When I Appraised that ogre, it unmistakably h

ad the n% I = w skill

held only by reincarnations.

The ogre is without a doubt a reincarnation, then.

And one who we certainly cannot control.

If I brought out the Glorias, which I have kept hidden from Oka, then

I would undoubtedly be able to defeat it.

owever, I have no interest in keeping a mindless beast as a pet.

That thing was no longer human.

Soon, it will forget that it was ever human to begin with.

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211

There would be no advantage in having a thing like that in our

village.

“Still, isn’t there anything

we can do?” Oka asks, as if in response to

my thoughts.

No doubt it was a coincidence, but the timing is so precise that it

startles me slightly.

But that doesn’t change my answer.

“No, I think not. As you saw, that thing was not human, and it didn’t

appe

ar to hear when you spoke to it. Judging by that rampage, I

doubt it even has intelligible thoughts any longer. I know not

whether it is because it was reborn as an ogre or for some other

reason, but it has completely transformed into nothing more than a

ad beast. There is no saving a creature like that.”

Not that I was interested in saving it anyway.

“But still! There has to be a way!”

“There is not. Even if there was, I have no intention of capturing that

monster. It would be a waste of time and resource

s.”

Oka’s tear

streaked face turns dumbfounded at my bluntness.

“Besides, would you truly defend it after what you saw it do to our

people?”

Personally, the loss of a few expendables matters not to me, but Oka

is far more softhearted.

If I point out that s

he is continuing to be selfish after all those losses,

it will no doubt be effective.

Besides, unlike me, Oka sees those expendables as individuals with

value.

During the expedition, she spoke with every one of them, even

forming a sort of friendship.

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212

It s

eems that in most of society, it is the norm to mourn the death of

someone you knew.

Attempting to capture that ogre would mean incurring just as many

losses, perhaps even more.

Since she sees each expendable pawn as a person, that would be a

difficult cal

l for Oka to make.

Sure enough, Oka closes her mouth and hangs her head again.

Turning my back to the silent girl, I begin to walk away.

This strategy was a complete failure.

And if Ariel’s group makes it into the Mystic Mountains, they are

undoubtedly hea

ding for the demon realm.

I do have some connections there, but it will be much harder to

interfere with them than it was before.

So I have no choice but to call off my harassment attempts for now.

In which case, it is best to start taking action on other

fronts.

Time is valuable, after all.

I cannot afford to waste a single second.

There is much that needs to be done. Where to begin?

“But I… I’m still his teacher…”

I hear Oka’s soft whisper behind me, but I pay her no mind as I walk

away.

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213

THE

OGRE

WORN

DOWN

I consume MP to create a new katana.

I need to replace the one that I instinctively threw when the old

mage put a hole in my head.

One of Weapon Creatio

n’s greatest strengths is that even if I lose

one of my weapons, I can re

create it as long as I have enough time

and MP.

Before long, I’m swinging a brand

new sword.

My other hand releases the Appraisal Stone I used to check out my

results.

The stone norm

ally hangs around my neck on a string.

This is the same Appraisal Stone that man used in the past, so

working it myself makes me sick to my stomach.

But having an Appraisal Stone is useful to examine the abilities of a

weapon I’ve made with Weapon Creation

, so I have no choice but to

carry it around.

My Appraisal confirms that the newly made katana has the same

lightning properties as the old one.

In fact, because I used even more MP, it’s actually better than

before.

And while the old katana felt a little

small in the hands of an Ogre

King, this one is a perfect fit.

It’s not that the sword got bigger. It’s my body that got smaller.

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214

After I turned the tables on the group that tried to ambush me in this

village, my level went up and I was able to evolve agai

I’d thought that Ogre King was the end of the evolutionary line, so I

was surprised to find there was another option.

This evolution is called an oni.

When I evolved into an oni, my body shrank from the giant size of an

Ogre King to the size of a regula

r human.

Though I’m definitely smaller than I was as an Ogre King, I’m still

pretty tall and muscular for a human.

I’m also the right size to wear human clothes, so I borrowed some of

the clothes I found in this abandoned village.

I would have preferred no

t to wear clothes that belonged to these

people, but the cold was too harsh on my bare skin.

When I gave in and put on clothes, I found that I looked more or less

like an ordinary person.

As I was rummaging through the clothes left here, I realized that th

uniform worn by most of the villagers was the same as the clothes

worn by the soldiers led by that formidable elderly duo.

It must be the official outfit of whatever nation controls this area.

Not that this information makes much of a difference to me.

hether the wearers of these uniforms were acting on some official

duty or not, it wouldn’t change my actions.

Not in the past and most likely not in the future, either.

Even if I could go back in time, I would probably repeat the same

events that happened

in this village.

Not that there’s any point in a hypothetical like that.

At any rate, I’m now an oni, not a goblin.

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215

But there was something even more surprising about my

transformation than the change in size.

I glance again at my face reflected in the kat

ana I just made.

I can see the same face I had in my old life.

The only major difference being the two horns growing from my

forehead.

I don’t know why I have my old face now, when I never did before.

Maybe there’s no particular reason.

But when I saw that

face looking back at me, I fell into a daze.

…What have I been doing?

Fighting, killing, then fighting and killing some more…

It’s not as though my actions in my old life were always completely

righteous.

I might have thought they were at the time, but in

reality, I often

solved my problems with violence.

Still, a far cry from my current life of bloodthirsty killing.

Things didn’t always go my way, but I never found myself in a kill

killed situation.

When I saw my old face reflected back at me, it ma

de me painfully

aware of that difference.

“Sasajima!”

Or maybe it was hearing my old name that reminded me.

There was one tiny girl among the group that was lying in wait for me

in this village.

And she called out my name.

From my old world.

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216

But I must hav

e just misheard her amid the chaos of the battle.

An unfamiliar girl wouldn’t know that name, and even if she did for

some reason, she would have no way of recognizing who I was when

I was in ogre form.

But even if I did mishear it, the sound of my old nam

e has brought

back memories of my old life and sent me spiraling into depression.

At the same time, half of my consciousness is perpetually consumed

by a smoldering rage.

Even now, my rational thoughts are tainted by violent impulses.

Now that I’ve wiped o

ut all the enemies who were in front of me, my

body is obeying my orders, at least.

I guess it’s calmed down now that there are no immediate enemies.

The black

clad figure who lured me here was probably among the

group I defeated.

To be honest, I was only

half

aware of myself while I was in battle, so

I don’t entirely remember who I killed or how.

That girl who called out my name might have even been a

hallucination.

As long as my sense of reason was still at least somewhat functional,

I’m sure I would have

hesitated to cut down such a small child.

Unfortunately, I lose all sense of reason in battle, so I doubt I was

able to hold back.

If the same thing was to happen in my current, calm state, would I be

able to respond properly?

…I don’t know.

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If a battle b

roke out, my sense of reason would probably burn away,

and even in my right mind, I might still cut that little girl down for all I

know.

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218

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219

I should find that frightening, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t

care.

I’m not as reluctant to kill peo

ple as I used to be.

In fact, part of me even derives a dark pleasure from it.

The swirling rage within me wants me to kill.

Yet, the more I kill, the more the rage deepens and the more

violently it burns.

If I keep on fighting, keep on killing, then soon

I’ll be fully consumed

by rage.

Of that I have no doubt.

Unless I die before then, that is.

There are humans out there who are stronger than me, like that old

mage who almost killed me.

I’m sure the time will eventually come that one of them kills me.

Will

I lose my mind to madness and rage?

Or will I be killed before that happens?

Neither option is a particularly good way to go.

If I want to avoid being killed, I have to come up with more

counterstrategies or simply get stronger.

I list some vocabulary wor

ds in my head.

Instantaneous movement. Teleport. Warp. Spatial Magic.

<Number of skill points currently in possession: 28,000. Number of skill

points required to acquire skill [Spatial Magic LV 1]: 10,000. Acquire

skill?>

There it is!

This must be the tele

porting skill that old mage was using.

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220

Absorbing the enemy’s tactics is undoubtedly one of the fastest ways

to get stronger.

If I find it difficult to deal with, I’m sure my enemies will find it

difficult as well.

I acquire the Spatial Magic skill without

hesitation.

It costs more skill points than anything I’ve picked up before, but I

think that proves just how valuable this skill must be.

Still, it seems this Spatial Magic skill won’t be very useful until its skill

level is higher.

I could put some of my

remaining skill points into it to raise the skill

level, but it might be better to save those and train it normally.

Raising my skill level a little bit probably won’t be enough to let me

use Teleport like that old mage.

Just then, a thought occurs to me.

Do I really need to fight at all?

…No, I don’t.

The person I needed to fight, to kill, is already dead.

The only times I’ve kept fighting were when those adventurers

attacked me or when I let my rage take over and went on a rampage.

There’s no reason whats

oever for me to deliberately go looking for a

fight.

If I didn’t even realize something so simple, my tunnel vision must

have gotten worse than I realized.

Although it’s probably because my rage makes it difficult to make

rational decisions.

If I keep figh

ting like this, I’ll either be killed or lose my mind.

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221

Then why do I need to fight at all?

Fortunately, through all the battles I’ve had so far, I’ve become

relatively strong.

I’m sure I could seclude myself in the mountains and live by hunting

and eating

the monsters there.

That’s how the goblins lived in my hometown, so there’s no reason I

can’t do the same.

Oh, I know. That’s it.

I’ll go back to the goblin village.

There’s no one left there anymore, but it’s the only place I can go

home to.

I’m sure no h

umans will bother me there.

Why don’t I just go back to that village and live in peace?

This seems like the most natural course of action. Why did I never

realize it before?

No, I’m sure I had already realized it somewhere deep down.

I just wanted to go so

mewhere I could expend all this rage.

Or maybe I was hoping to avoid my inevitable return to that village

as long as I could.

I was so sure that I no longer had the right to call myself a goblin. I

even used the Naming skill to change my name.

Although par

t of the reason was to overwrite the name that horrible

man gave me.

Still, I could have changed it back to my old name. The reason I didn’t

was that I felt I’d tarnished it, that I could no longer use it.

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222

So I guess deep down I thought I didn’t have the r

ight to go back to

that village anymore, either.

To be honest, I still feel that way now.

But another feeling has overtaken that: exhaustion.

I’m absolutely spent. It’s time to stop being stubborn and rest.

The other part of me, the half that’s being contr

olled by anger,

screams that it hasn’t had enough fighting yet.

But that just makes me all the more determined.

I have to go back to my home village.

If I don’t do it now, while I still have my sanity, then I’ll never be able

to go back again.

There’s no t

ime like the present, then.

I know being here in this village will be good for nothing but stoking

my rage even more.

This village is abandoned now, except for me.

I’m here in this horrible, half

destroyed house.

It’s the exact place I should want to avoid

, but perhaps because of all

the time I spent here, my feet just naturally guided me right through

the door.

I was forced to make magic swords in this house.

Day after day, as my rage and hatred built up inside me.

I don’t have a single good memory of this

home or this village.

Just being here dredges up unpleasant memories that eat away at

my sanity.

I need to get out of here as soon as possible.

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223

Leaving the house, I find the sky covered in dense clouds, like an

omen of doom.

My mood darkens even further,

but I still start moving forward.

To the Mystic Mountains. To the goblin village.

Home.

As the air gets colder with every step, I abruptly stop in place.

Huh?

Where was I going, again?

I get the feeling I was heading toward somewhere very important…

But I

don’t remember where.

…Oh well. It doesn’t matter.

If I can’t remember, I’m sure it didn’t matter much.

All that matters right now is finding a way to vent the rage

overflowing in my heart.

Ah…so much hate.

Hate… Kill…

HATE…

KILL!

“GRAAAAAH!”

The boiling w

rath erupts as a howl.

As the howl ripples across the area like a shock wave, I can sense the

living things nearby start to flee.

But I won’t let them get away.

The only way to sate this anger is to kill.

I’ll kill, and kill, and kill.

I’ll kill every last

one of them.

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224

’

MOUNTAIN

CLIMBING

After spending the night in the abandoned village, we set out into

the Mystic Mountains.

Huh?

Did we s

ee any ghosts?

Of course not, dummy!

No matter how creepy and ill

fated this place might be, there’s no

such thing as ghosts in this world, period.

’Cause when you die, you’re forcibly sent home to the goddess.

If you wanted to stick around here as a ghost

, you’d have to be able

to defy the gods somehow.

In fact, if you were strong enough to do that, I don’t think you’d even

be a ghost anymore.

That would be a serious problem.

So yeah, our night went perfectly fine, thank you very much.

The puppet spiders a

re one thing, but I don’t know whether to be

impressed with how fast Vampy passed out or appalled by her lack of

girliness.

Wouldn’t that have been the perfect time to go up to Mera, like,

I’m

too scared to sleep. Can I stay with you?

She’s still just a li

ttle kid, so it wouldn’t be that weird to sleep next to

her caretaker.

Even without a paranormal encounter, we could at least get some

drama going.

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225

Anyway, that’s the kind of stupid thing I’m thinking about as I bounce

along in the carriage.

It’s cold out,

so I’m all wrapped up in a blanket.

Why don’t I walk, you ask?

Yeah, right. You think I could walk on a mountain path like this?

I guarantee you I’d be down and out in less than an hour!

The Demon Lord knows that, too, which is why I’m on standby in the

arriage right from the start.

My role in this mountain expedition is to sit still inside the carriage,

just like this.

Yep. I’m basically luggage!

While everyone else laboriously drags themselves up the mountain, I

get to ride in luxury all by myself.

Mm,

it’s good to be me.

Still, I wouldn’t say the journey is very easy.

For one thing, it’s cold.

Weather in the Mystic Mountains is so intense that the snow never

melts here.

We’re still traveling at a relatively low elevation, but it’s already

pretty damn co

ld.

Even wrapped up in this blanket with heat

emanating magic stones,

I’m still freezing in here.

Okay, technically, this used to just be an ordinary stone.

But with the help of Magic Conferment, a skill that lets the user fill an

object with magic, it’s b

een imbued with Fire Magic.

The Demon Lord made it, of course.

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226

Since it was just some rock to start with, it came at the low, low price

of absolutely free.

Talk about a bargain!

She made a bunch of these magic stones while we were in town, so

each of us is

carrying a few.

Incidentally, I got the most, since I don’t have stats to protect me

from the cold.

I’m still using only one right now, but when it gets colder, I’m

planning on using a bunch at once.

To be honest, I’d like to use all of them right this se

cond.

I’m cold!

But if I start complaining when we’ve just gotten started, I feel like I

won’t be able to make it through the rest of the trip, so I’m forcing

myself to bear with it.

The cold isn’t the only problem, either.

I’m getting carriage

sick.

I mea

n, this thing really sways.

Back and forth, back and forth.

Can you blame me for feeling gross?

Urp!

Why is it swaying so much? Because this carriage isn’t touching the

ground.

For those of you who are thinking

What the hell are you talking

about?

your rea

ction is justified, but think about it for a second.

How would a carriage be able to traverse an uneven mountain path?

It can’t, that’s how!

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227

So how is this carriage moving, then? Good question.

The answer is: It’s being carried.

By whom? By Ael.

She looks

like a little girl, yet she’s carrying this carriage on her back

as she walks.

If any outsiders saw this, I’m sure it would look pretty crazy.

But despite her appearance, she’s actually a monster with stats in

the quintuple digits.

Lugging a carriage up a

mountain is a simple task for her.

Unfortunately, that means that jostling around a bunch is all part of

the ride.

Of course being carried on someone’s back means bouncing around

a lot.

In fact, she’s actually being pretty careful, or I’d probably be suffe

ring

even more.

If it was any of the other puppet spiders, I’m sure they wouldn’t even

think to carry it gently.

Yeah. Without going into too much detail, that wouldn’t end well.

Urp!

I have to bear the cold and the swaying somehow.

That might sound like a

nice problem to have compared to the others

who are walking outside, but I don’t have stats, so gimme a break.

If I could walk on my own two feet, I’d be doing it right now!

Besides, technically they’re not all walking on their own feet, either.

Vampy and

Mera are riding on the earth wyrms that were pulling the

carriage.

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228

Since Ael’s carrying the carriage now, that frees up the two earth

wyrms for riders.

Mera tamed the pair with a skill.

While he was a human, he apparently boasted all kinds of butlering

ills, including driving a carriage.

A butler as a coachman? Yeah, I know. Don’t worry about it.

Anyway, that’s why he had the Creature Training skill to start with,

but by taming the earth wyrms, he was able to evolve that skill into

Summoning.

See, there

are two ways to win over a monster.

One is using a skill to force them to obey you.

That means Creature Training or its advanced form, Summoning, to

force the monster to do your bidding.

The other option is to get them to acknowledge you and enter into a

ontract with you.

With the former, you’re basically enslaving the monster by force.

Of course, the tamer has to be stronger than the monster in this

case, or the skill will bounce right off.

If you weaken the monster beforehand, though, sometimes it’ll sti

work.

You don’t need the monster’s consent, so you can just force it to do

stuff right away.

But since you’re forcing it, that means you’re suppressing the

monster’s free will.

After it’s enslaved, it’s practically a whole different being that

happens t

o have the same specs.

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229

Once you control its free will, the monster is like a machine that only

obeys orders.

On the other hand, if you get a monster to recognize you as its

master and enter into a contract, then that monster retains its free

will.

Of cours

e, that means the monster might rebel against you.

But since you have a real bond linking you together, you gain a far

more formidable ally than if you just force it to obey you with a skill.

Ah, the power of friendship!

So Mera is using the latter, a cont

ract with monsters who’ve

accepted him as a master.

Earth wyrms as a species tend to be loyal for life to anyone they

acknowledge as their master, so it’s much better this way. They’d

probably fight to the death for him now.

Although frankly, they’re the n

ext weakest members of this party

after me, so they probably won’t get the chance to do that anytime

soon.

Their main job is to be beasts of burden.

That being said, if it gets too hard on them, the two riders will

probably get down and lead them by the re

ins.

After all, the riders have higher stats than the wyrms.

Even when the earth wyrms get tired, the bloodsucker duo will

probably still be bright

eyed and bushy

tailed.

So far, though, the earth wyrms’ steps seem light.

Straining my ears, I can hear the

bloodsuckers and the Demon Lord

chatting.

“Are there any monsters we should be wary of up here?”

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230

“Hmm? As long as I’m with you, you don’t need to worry about any

monsters, but I suppose this is ice dragon territory.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, I suppose there

’s always goblins.”

“Huh?”

Huh?

I’m just as confused as Vampy.

Aren’t goblins basically the poster children for super

weak monsters?

“They’ve got just as much warrior spirit as any old dragon. Or should

I say determination? They’re weak on their own, all r

ight, but they’re

not afraid to stare death in the face. And they always attack in

groups, so they’re a pretty serious threat to an ordinary human.”

What kind of a world has goblins like that?!

This world, I guess!

But that doesn’t sound like the goblins w

e all know and love.

Unreal.

“Oh, and I guess there are the monkeys.”

The Demon Lord and the baby bloodsucker keep chatting as they

walk.

Yeah, they’ve got enough energy to spare for chatting as we climb

this mountain, if you can believe it.

I guess that’l

l probably change when we get higher up, though.

But that’s a long way off, I’m sure.

Oh boy, do I miss the time when I still believed that.

It’s so c

cold!

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231

Not just cold, it’s freezing!

In fact, it’s straight

up painful!

I knew these mountains were

gonna be rough, but this is way worse

than I thought.

I’m wrapped up in a blanket with all my magic stones, and I’m still

freezing my butt off.

Just bouncing around inside the carriage like this seems to be

draining my stamina.

This is rough, all right.

’s been a few days since we started our trip across the Mystic

Mountains.

We’re still moving at a steady pace, but the farther we go, the colder

and more painful it gets.

The snow whirling around in the air is pretty, sure, but it’s also the

worst thing ev

er.

As the snow falls, it piles up on top of the carriage.

Too much would make the roof collapse, so it has to be periodically

removed.

Which Ael accomplishes by shaking the carriage around.

Really, just whipping it back and forth.

It’s like some kind of a

musement

park ride, except I’m not sure I’m

gonna survive.

I feel like I’m gonna be sick.

So every day I beg the snow: Please just stop falling!

My prayers go unanswered, though…

I’m still getting whipped back and forth!

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232

Ugh, this seriously sucks.

And of c

ourse, snow is piling up on the ground, too.

It’s piled so high, it’d practically be up to my ears if I was walking.

And since it’s new snow, it’s super

soft, too.

If you dropped Vampy on top of snow like that, she’d probably be

buried on the spot!

So the

Demon Lord is leading the way, tunneling through the snow

for everyone else.

Damn, she’s more efficient than a snowplow.

Must be nice having stats like that.

“Hrmmm. This is a little bit strange, though. I wonder what’s going

on.”

The Demon Lord mutters to

herself as she forges a path through the

snowdrifts.

I’m guessing she means it’s strange that the snow is falling nonstop

like this.

The biggest reason the Mystic Mountains are considered impassable

is because of the dragons that make their home there.

whole family of ice

controlling dragons lives up in these peaks,

encamped right smack in the middle between human lands and

demon lands.

If the humans or demons want to invade each other, they’d have to

cross through ice dragon turf first, making an invasi

on by way of the

Mystic Mountains nearly impossible.

In fact, the ice dragons are the reason it’s so damn cold.

They perpetually generate cold, freezing the land around them.

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233

Of course, the closer you get to the source, the colder it gets.

So going to the

heart of the mountains is especially scary.

But that’s exactly where we’re headed

—

in fact, we’re nearly there

—

but apparently this situation is unusual.

I guess I can see that.

I’m using all these magic stones that the Demon Lord made, but I’m

still shaking

like a leaf in here.

The outside of the blanket that I’m wrapped up in with the stones is

actually starting to freeze.

So without the magic stones, this blanket would probably be a block

of ice, and so would I.

And yet, it’s snowing outside.

At this tempe

rature, it should definitely be hail by now.

Talk about a fantasy world.

That means this snow must be a magical creation, not natural.

So who do you think is making it snow, hmm?

Obviously, that’d be the lords of the mountain, the ice dragons.

“Maybe they’

re trying to keep you away, Miss Ariel?”

“Nah. Even the ice dragons must know they can’t beat me. Plus, we

have an unspoken agreement that I won’t pick fights with them.

They didn’t try to intercept me last time I passed through this way,

so I’m guessing w

e’re not their target.”

Outside the frozen blanket, I can hear Vampy and the Demon Lord

talking again.

It’s way too cold for a conversation at this point, but I am interested

in what they’re saying.

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234

I open up a tiny gap in the blanket so that I can hear th

em better.

Immediately, cold air blows in through the hole.

Too cold!

I’m gonna freeze!

“There must be another outsider in the mountains right now besides

us. Maybe it’s that ogre?”

Without waiting to hear more, I plug the hole back up.

Whew. I thought I w

as gonna freeze to death.

That ogre again, though? This guy’s pretty aggressive.

It’s causing problems all over the place.

Must be nice to be so young and carefree.

Although I’m technically a little kid, too, like the baby bloodsucker.

Still, first elves a

nd now dragons? This ogre must be a battle maniac.

Why does it keep challenging one strong opponent after another?

Is it on one of those “gotta find someone stronger than me” types of

quests?

If so, I’ve got news for you, pal: The Demon Lord, the strongest

person in the world, is right here.

She’ll be so much stronger than you, you’ll be saying lines like,

Ngh! I

can’t get in a single blow…!

That is if you even have a chance to say anything before she turns

you into mincemeat. Either that or smithereens any

way.

If that ogre is the reason for this freakish weather, then frankly, I

hope that does happen.

This ogre has been a huge pain in the ass, to be honest.

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235

First we get stuck in that town, then we have to deal with this

godawful weather, all thanks to one s

tupid ogre.

Oh, I guess it did kill those elves for us, so that’s one positive.

Still more negatives overall, though.

Like, can’t it just disappear already?

If this was a hero story, the ogre would probably defeat the ice

dragons and stand in our way, and

we’d have to drive it away with

the power of friendship or whatever.

Although if the imperial army was able to chase it off, then I don’t

see it beating a dragon anytime soon.

Dear ice dragons, please just smack that ogre down and put a stop to

this snow a

lready.

Otherwise, I’m seriously gonna die out here!

I can hear my teeth chattering.

“Guh?!”

Just then, the Demon Lord makes a most unladylike noise.

I dunno, I don’t think girls are supposed to say “Guh!”

I create a little opening in the blanket to peek o

utside.

Guh?!

The scene outside is so shocking that I forget about the blast of cold

air for a second.

Monkeys.

My worst nightmare.

My deep

seated trauma.

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236

How could I forget? It’s the same monkeys that once surrounded me

and nearly killed me in my weaker d

ays in the Great Elroe Labyrinth’s

Lower Stratum!

If I remember right, they were called “anogratches” or something.

At some point during our journey, the Demon Lord told me that

they’re also known as “revenge monkeys.” If one of their own is

killed, they’l

l form huge groups to try to get revenge on whoever

killed it.

To make matters worse, once they’ve set their sights on revenge,

they won’t give up until their target is dead.

If you see one, you should never, ever kill one.

Even if you kill only a single i

ndividual, they’ll attack you in swarms.

Right.

I did find it strange at the time that they were so determined to kill a

single spider, but I guess that’s just their nature.

Are you kidding me?!

What kind of crappy game sends a bunch of enemies to attack y

but you’re not supposed to kill any of them?

How terrible do your survival instincts have to be to keep trying to

avenge a single individual until every last one of you is dead?!

And those same monkeys are coming toward us right now.

Not just one or two

, either. They’re coming in droves.

Um, what’s up with this tidal wave of monkeys?!

Are you for real?!

Nobody told me these damn monkeys lived in the Mystic Mountains,

too!

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237

““““““““““““““““OOK, OOK!””””””””””””””””

Don’t

OOK, OOK

me, you stupid monkeys!

riously, why can’t I wake up from this nightmare?!

Is this because of that stupid ogre, too?!

Did the whole swarm of monkeys run this way to escape from the

battle between the ogre and the ice dragons or something?!

This ogre sucks!

“Wha

—

?! Yeesh!”

Even th

e Demon Lord is freaking out at the sight!

The baby bloodsucker and Mera are totally freezing up.

Hey, no freezing just ’cause it’s cold out!

Aside from Ael, the puppet spiders are all in battle

ready positions.

At least we can count on them in times like

this!

“Oh, this isn’t good. Nope, nope, nope. Here goes nothing!”

As the sea of monkeys closes in, the Demon Lord starts preparing

magic.

At least, I assume so. Without my skills, I can’t even see the magic

the Demon Lord is constructing.

I can just kinda

tell from her pose that that’s what she’s doing, I

guess.

Huh?

Wait a sec, though.

Isn’t using magic in this situation, like, a really bad idea?

“Eat this!”

I realize this just as the Demon Lord unleashes her spell.

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238

A torrent of darkness rushes from her ha

nds.

What is this, an evil k

mehameha?

With the Demon Lord’s crazy stats, the Black Magic causes a huge

explosion, sending the giant horde of monkeys flying every which

way.

No matter how strong the monkeys might be, I was able to defeat

them one by one ev

en back when I was a total weakling.

The Demon Lord’s magic wipes them all out in one clean sweep.

The problem is what happens after that!

The shock waves from the Demon Lord’s spell spread through the

area, causing a certain chain reaction.

A mass just as

big as the swarm of monkeys, or maybe even bigger,

bears down on us.

A mass of what?

Of snow, duh!

It’s an avalanche!

This is weird magic snow that stays soft and fluffy even in

temperatures cold enough to freeze my blanket.

If you cause a big explosion o

n a mountain covered in that stuff, of

course this is gonna happen! Come on!

Sure, an area

effect spell was the only way to get rid of all the

oncoming monkeys at once, but now it’s caused a disaster even

bigger than that.

The Demon Lord’s looking at th

e snow like,

Oops, now I’ve done it!

You sure have, dude. Not that I can blame you for freaking out and

reacting poorly with a huge swarm of monkeys coming at us out of

nowhere like that!

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239

The snow closes in on us like a tidal wave.

“RUN!”

The Demon Lord’s

shout is almost as loud as the deep rumbling of

the avalanche.

At her command, everyone jumps into the air!

With their leg strength enhanced by stats, the spider crew moves so

fast, it’s like they’re flying.

Then they use Dimensional Maneuvering to keep fl

eeing through the

air.

The bloodsucker duo jumps up, too, avoiding the avalanche by a

hairbreadth.

Riel and Fiel carry the earth wyrms to safety.

And I…am falling straight toward the avalanche.

Oh. Wait. What?

I’m sailing through the air.

Ael is a short di

stance away, holding the carriage.

Hmm?

Hmmmm?!

This is a record

scratch moment if I’ve ever had one.

Okay. When Ael jumped up, the recoil must’ve sent me flying right

out of the carriage.

Even Ael wouldn’t have the spare brainpower to worry about me at a

time like this.

I get it now. Ha

ha.

Um, this isn’t funny at all?!

Page |

Jesus Christ!

Shit, shit, shit!

At this rate, I’m gonna swan dive right into the snow!

And since I’m wrapped up in this blanket, I won’t be able to do a

damn thing about it!

Not that I’d

be able to do much of anything even if I wasn’t!

“Sael! Help White, quick!”

The Demon Lord shouts an order at Sael, the only puppet spider with

her hands free.

Sael, bless her heart, is always quick to act as long as she’s been

given orders.

She reacts im

mediately, catching me in midair.

But it’s a second too late!

Sael grabs me right before I get swallowed up by the avalanche.

Her hands close around my blanket.

But then the blanket comes right off with an ominous ripping sound.

Frozen or not, a blanket is

a blanket. It’s not built to support a

person’s weight.

My body falls right into the avalanche, sinking into the snow.

I reach up instinctively, and by some miracle, Sael grabs my hand!

But my body’s already being carried away, and the momentum drags

Sael

right down with me.

As we’re crushed along in total confusion, Sael manages to drag us

back up to where we can see the sky again.

She must have managed to push back to the surface of the snow

somehow.

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241

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242

My arm is experiencing some distressing pain

as I get dragged along,

but that doesn’t matter right now.

“Grab my hand!”

Speeding toward us, Vampy reaches down from the sky.

Still being crushed by the snow, I don’t have the strength to reach

up.

Luckily, Sael manages to grab the baby bloodsucker’s ha

nd, and then

Mera grabs on as well, trying to pull us up.

But then

—

something slams into the baby bloodsucker.

“Ah?!”

“Young Miss?!”

It’s a monkey, carried down toward us by the avalanche, and it’s

clinging to the baby bloodsucker!

Wait, what the hell?!

Whe

re’d you come from?!

Why is there another monkey here?!

The monkey’s tackle sends Vampy’s small frame flying into the snow.

Taking Sael, Mera, and the stupid monkey right along with her.

Me? Yeah, me too, of course.

Damn you, monkeeeey!

Maybe you were just

trying to save yourself from getting swept

away, but now we’re all getting swept away, toooo!

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243

Still grasping one another’s hands, all of us get swallowed up by the

avalanche.

Isn’t the Demon Lord gonna save us?!

I cast a desperate look up at the sky, and

just before the snow covers

my vision, I see a vast swarm of monkeys throwing themselves at the

Demon Lord.

Seriously?

How are there still that many of them?

And wait, what the hell, monkeys?!

You’re seriously still trying to get revenge even in the middle

of an

avalanche?!

What the hell’s wrong with you?!

The Demon Lord won’t be able to help us now.

Just as that realization hits me, the snow swallows up my body

completely.

And as my vision blackens, my consciousness blinks out as well.

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244

THE

OGRE AND THE

ICE

DRAGON

Flames course out of the katana in my grip.

Hellfire that consumes every l

iving thing.

But right now, it amounts to only a paltry flicker that barely serves to

warm my body slightly before fizzling out.

Instead of the usual blazing fire, my katana is currently engulfed in

thick ice.

“Nngaaah!”

Nevertheless, I bring the blade dow

n on the giant creature before

me.

clang

echoes, and sharp reverberations run through my hand.

The blow broke the ice around my blade, but instead of cutting

through the enemy, my attack was repelled by the creature’s

powerful scales.

They’re so tough an

d my movements so dull.

The bitter cold is slowing me down, making it impossible to use my

full strength.

“How sad. Truly pitiful.”

The dragon, which hasn’t bothered to dodge my attack, sends a

scornful telepathic message.

Ignoring it, I swing the sword in

my other hand.

The lightning

wreathed blade strikes the scales, scattering purple

sparks.

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245

However, as I feared, it doesn’t leave even a scratch on those

diamond

like scales.

“It won’t work, no matter how many times you try. You may possess

rare strength,

but you cannot hope to defeat me. I possess incredible

toughness, though perhaps not as much as my earth brethren.”

The dragon speaks in a slow, old

fashioned manner.

Despite the grand way of speaking, its voice sounds like that of a

young woman in my mind

This dragon is a female, then.

The dragon is beautiful, her body cutting an elegant curve, covered

entirely in quartz

like scales.

And she commands ice.

Her mere presence causes the temperature in the immediate area to

drop to freezing cold.

I coat my sw

ord in fire yet again.

The flames go out almost immediately, but I have to do this every so

often to keep my body from freezing.

What temperature could this wretched cold possibly be?

It must be in the negatives; that much is for sure.

Even Hokkaido in the

winter never got cold enough to freeze your

body like this.

I’m constantly buffeted by thick bursts of snow.

Clinging to my skin, the snow saps away my strength and body heat.

Since they froze over, wearing clothes actually made the cold worse,

so shortly

after the battle started, I threw away all but the most

crucial coverings.

From a bystander’s perspective, I’m fighting half

naked.

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246

It might sound funny, but I’m fighting for my life.

…Why am I fighting this dragon anyway?

I don’t know.

I try to remember,

but I can’t think straight, as if the snow has even

piled up inside my head.

I know I was trying to get somewhere.

But where? I can’t remember.

I wanted to go somewhere, to go home to a particular place, but I

can’t remember where that was.

All I can do n

ow is try to defeat the enemy in front of me.

“GRAAAAAH!”

“Most pitiable, indeed. Is the desire to fight the only thought that

remains in your mind?”

I keep attacking with both my swords.

My hands are too numb to move properly, and my frozen body is

painfu

lly slow.

With attacks like this, I won’t be able to put a scratch on this

dragon’s scales no matter how long I keep at it.

But as I continue these stubbornly straightforward swings, the

dragon finally draws back as if in annoyance.

“It would be a simple t

ask to slaughter you. I would certainly like to

do so, as thanks for laying waste to our mountains. But our lord has

ordered us not to lay a hand on you so

called reincarnations, so sadly,

I cannot put your mind to rest.”

The dragon flaps her wings, taking

to the air.

I feel like she’s saying something important, but I just can’t seem to

understand.

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247

I hear its voice, but the meaning of the words doesn’t come through.

“…Still, if the cold was to finish you off, then that would only be an

accident, not any fa

ult of mine.”

The dragon’s mouth curls slightly.

I don’t know how to read a dragon’s expression, but she seems

smug, almost mischievous.

That expression basically vanishes immediately, though, leaving only

a cold light in the dragon’s eyes.

It’s a look bef

itting the ruler of this glacial hell.

“May you fall to ruin in this frigid land. It would be best for your

own sake, as well.”

Finally, with a pitying glance, the dragon flies away.

The immediate threat is gone.

But the blizzard around me doesn’t relent.

I can feel my life force draining away just by standing in it.

I have to hurry.

…But to where?

I know I was trying to go somewhere.

Why can’t I remember?

I know it was a very, very important place.

But try as I might, I can’t seem to remember.

I want to re

member, yet part of me doesn’t want to at all.

Because that place doesn’t exist anymore.

I lost everything.

My family, my pride, everything.

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248

I have no right to go back there.

Not after I a

e my own sister…

“Kill.”

That voice gave me an order.

I felt myself

squeezing a small, skinny neck.

“Eat.”

Another order.

My fangs tore into skin, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.

…Did I just start to remember something I shouldn’t have?

I don’t know.

Maybe it’s better that way.

Either way, if I don’t get away from

here, I’m going to freeze to

death.

Where should I go?

As I stand there thinking, I see something go flying into the air from

the ground.

Was it magic?

Well, I have no other destination.

Might as well go take a look.

Forgetting my initial destination enti

rely, I start walking toward the

first thing that catches my eye.

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249

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250

’

LOST

I awaken to the crackling sounds of a fire.

Good morning.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

As I lie there in a daze, Vampy notices me.

Then I remember everything that happened before I passed out, and

now

I’m wide

awake.

“How are you feelin

g? Everything in order?”

At that, I investigate the state of my body for a moment.

Nothing feels out of order.

I thought I remembered the arm Sael grabbed feeling broken to

splinters, but now it’s perfectly fine.

The baby bloodsucker must have healed me wh

ile I was unconscious.

I nod to say that I’m fine.

“All right, then.”

Her reply is short, but I can tell that she’s relieved.

Since she saved me and all, I work up the nerve to thank her.

“Thanks.”

I might not be much of a talker, but even I have enough ma

nners to

show appreciation at a time like this.

“I

it wasn’t a big deal, all right!”

Wow. What’s with that reaction?

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251

I thought you were supposed to be the crazy stalker character, not

some aggressively shy girl.

Well, whatever.

At any rate, I didn’t wake u

p in heaven, so it looks like I survived.

That’s a relief.

I sit up slowly and look around.

All I can see are walls of ice.

The baby bloodsucker must have used her Ice Magic to make an

igloo for us to take shelter in, I guess.

There’s a little fire burning

in the center of the igloo, and Vampy,

Mera, and Sael are sitting around it.

“Now that Lady White is awake, what should our next course of

action be?” Mera asks, looking toward the baby bloodsucker.

“We meet up with Miss Ariel and the others, of course.”

She

responds without hesitation. “But it would be silly to run off looking

for her. Since we got swept away in the avalanche, we don’t even

know where we are right now. Our best bet is to give some kind of

sign of our location so that Miss Ariel will come

to us.”

Of course. That’s the first rule when you get lost like this.

Don’t go anywhere.

Otherwise, you’ll just get even more lost, and it’ll be harder for your

rescuers to find you.

Luckily, Vampy’s magic can make a base for us and a fire.

That helps with

the worst of the cold, and we can use the fire to melt

snow for water.

Food is a bigger problem, but we just have to trust that the Demon

Lord will find us soon.

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252

That’s the gist of the bloodsucker duo’s conversation anyway.

Sael and I just sit and listen.

What else are we supposed to do?

I’m useless in battle, and Sael is Sael.

“If worse comes to worst, maybe we can eat this?”

Vampy holds up…a monkey.

Ah, it’s the one that grabbed on to her before.

Wait, that thing’s dead as a doornail!

Doesn’t that mean i

ts monkey pals are gonna come looking for

revenge?!

“Well, if it happens…you know.”

As if sensing my concerns, Vampy casts a meaningful glance toward

Sael.

All eyes in the igloo gather on the puppet spider.

Yeah, that makes sense.

She’s the strongest fight

er in this group, so if anything happens, we’ll

have to count on her.

With all eyes on her, Sael’s expression doesn’t change, but she is

definitely emitting a

Me? Seriously?!

kind of vibe.

Um, are we gonna be all right?

With Sael being the way she is and a

ll?

Nah, it’s fine, no problem.

I’m sure of it. Probably. Maybe.

“Then I shall emit a signal. If I cast a spell toward the sky, I have no

doubt Lady Ariel will see it.”

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253

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Mera exits the igloo.

By the way, this igloo doesn’t have any ent

rance or exit.

If you want to go out, you have to use Ice Magic to make an exit.

As soon as Mera does just that, the reason for this annoying design

choice becomes abundantly clear.

Eeeeek!

What is this?!

It’s freeeezing!

Mera fires a spell toward the sky

and hurries back inside, closing the

entrance behind him.

This is crazy, dude.

It’s way too cold out there. If we left an exit open, we’d almost 100

percent freeze to death.

I don’t think we could leave this spot even if we wanted to.

Vampy and crew might

manage out there, but not me.

Nope. If I went outside, I’m sure I’d be a goner.

My defense against the cold, my blanket, was all frozen up even

before I lost it in the avalanche.

Seems like I lost all my heating magic stones in the commotion, too.

In other

words, I’m totally unarmed.

Technically, my clothes are meant to be somewhat cold resistant, but

that’s nothing in the face of this frigid wasteland.

So I guess our only choice is to wait until the Demon Lord and the

others come running to save us.

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254

There

were still extra blankets and magic stones in the carriage, so I’ll

be able to get by with those.

With nothing else to do, we warm ourselves around the fire.

Vampy is prodding at the dead monkey, sniffing the blood around its

mouth and stuff.

You know thos

e things taste gross, right? Trust me on this one.

Now, after I turned into an arachne, I confirmed that my spider half

and my human half had different senses of taste.

The spider half could eat all kinds of unpleasant things without much

of a problem, but

in the human half’s case, some things were too

gross to swallow.

So if that monkey tasted gross to my spider body, you better believe

it’s gonna be nasty for a human.

I ate tons of those things as a spider, and I hated every bite.

There’s no way a human c

an eat one.

I gently take the baby bloodsucker’s hand and pull it away from the

monkey.

When she looks at me in confusion, I just shake my head.

You can’t eat that.

My meaning seems to get through to her. She wrinkles her nose and

lets go of the monkey.

can’t help but notice a relieved expression flashing across Mera’s

face.

Yeah, you didn’t want to eat that, either, did you, buddy?

Maybe he just figured that desperate times call for desperate

measures, and that’s why he didn’t stop Vampy.

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255

He may be a ser

vant, but he’s still able to warn his master when

she’s about to make a mistake.

I guess during our journey, she must’ve gotten so used to eating

monsters that she saw this monkey as a possible food source, even if

it’s painfully obvious how gross it would

be.

I’m not sure whether to be impressed at her hardiness or disturbed

at her lack of girliness again.

I mean, look at Mera’s face, will you?

He’s all,

Young Miss, no waaay can we eat that!

Vampy’s gotten more powerful and adaptable, but her maiden

instin

cts have seriously lapsed.

Hmm. Well, uh, good luck with the romance, kid.

While I give the baby bloodsucker a tepid gaze, my hand casually

touches the ground

—

and a shiver runs down my spine.

Something touched my hand when I put it on the ground.

It’s an e

normous white scythe.

My personal weapon that I crafted from my own body.

You could even say that it’s my other half.

I thought it was still in the carriage, yet somehow, here it is.

When I absorbed all the energy of that bomb and turned into a deity,

my b

ody alone wasn’t able to take in all that power, so some of it

flowed into this scythe. As a result, it’s got more than a few

mysterious powers.

Even before I evolved, its abilities were usually based on my own

skills, but what it did and when it did it va

ried quite a bit, and in ways

that even I didn’t fully understand.

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256

Not to mention, it did all those things without my willing it to do so,

as if it had a mind of its own.

Just like it’s doing right now.

But it doesn’t do things randomly

—

there’s always a re

ason.

In this case, it probably came to me by way of teleportation, but that

means something caused it to happen.

There’s some reason that I need to have my scythe on me right now.

In that instant, I don’t even wonder what to do.

An instinctive sense of da

nger overwhelms me, so I trust my

instincts, grab my scythe, and stand up with it held out in front of

me.

But somehow, that action winds up saving my life.

With a loud

boom

, the world around me suddenly changes.

I don’t know what happened or why.

All I kn

ow is that it’s painful.

It hurts.

My whole body hurts but especially my arms.

Not only that, but my vision is filled with pure

white snow.

Just as I realize that I must be lying facedown on the ground, vicious

cold assails my entire body.

so cold!

must be outside the igloo now.

I don’t know what I’m doing out here, but I know I’m freezing my

butt off!

I have to get back inside!

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257

But when I sit up and look around, I don’t see the igloo anywhere.

Instead, I see two big chunks of ice that must be the r

emains of the

igloo.

Like what would happen if you chopped the dome in half, straight

down the middle.

In fact, that’s gotta be exactly what happened.

But instead of focusing on the destroyed igloo, my eyes wander over

to what stands beyond it.

A person?

here’s a person there.

Specifically, a man, who appears to be half

naked in this awful cold.

Actually, more than half. The only thing he’s wearing is a tattered

piece of cloth to cover the most vital bits.

You some kinda pervert?! Wait, this isn’t the time

But seriously, um, aren’t you cold?

Okay, now’s not the time for stupid reactions like that, especially not

once I see his face.

It looks totally human, except for the two horns sprouting from his

forehead…but that’s not why.

It’s the face itself that su

rprises me.

I know that face.

“Sael! Get him!”

While I’m frozen in shock, I hear Vampy’s voice cry out.

Immediately, Sael hops out of one of the two pieces of the igloo.

The baby bloodsucker peeks out of the other, checking around.

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258

Luckily, it looks like t

hey were in the safe parts of the igloo, so they

didn’t get hurt.

Hmm? Does that mean that I got caught in whatever destroyed the

igloo and thrown all the way over here?

As I belatedly realize what happened to me, the blood drains from

my face.

The only re

ason I survived must be because I had my scythe at the

ready.

I’m sure I would have died if it didn’t defend me.

That would also explain why my arms hurt so much.

The scythe must have used some kind of barrier to reduce the

damage.

Otherwise, with my weak

constitution, I would never be able to

survive an attack that could destroy the igloo like that.

Attack… That’s right.

We must have been attacked.

By whom? Well, that’s obvious.

There’s only one new person around here.

The man with the horns over there.

the man with the horns must be the one who attacked us.

No wonder the baby bloodsucker ordered Sael to attack him.

Sael whips out her six hidden arms and their respective weapons as

she charges at the horned man.

Her crazy

high stats mean that she attacks

so fast, a now

normal

person like me can’t even follow her movements.

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259

I knew that she produced her arms and pulled out her weapons

before only because I’m familiar with her actions, not because I was

able to see it.

It’s just like how even someone who kno

ws a lot about guns

wouldn’t be able to follow a fired bullet with their naked eye.

And they wouldn’t be able to stop that bullet, either.

Before I can call out to stop her, Sael’s already finished her attack.

Or rather, I guess she finished before I even

thought about trying to

stop her.

That’s how fast she moves.

And no ordinary person could survive an attack from a monster like

Sael.

But somehow…

“Huh?”

Vampy murmurs in shock.

The man with the horns managed to block Sael’s attack with the

katana he holds

in both hands.

I can’t believe it.

How was he able to defend himself against Sael?

And as if to prove that it wasn’t just chance, he keeps parrying each

of Sael’s successive attacks.

It doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to counterattack, but Sael’s

attacks aren’t touching him, either.

They’re evenly matched.

I guess this guy with the horns is no ordinary person.

In fact, I think I know exactly who he really is.

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260

After we’ve heard so much about him, it’d be crazier

not

to realize it.

The ogre. The one

who wiped out all the adventurers in that town,

got chased away by the imperial army, and caused all this abnormal

weather by antagonizing the ice dragons.

He honestly looks way more like a human than an ogre, but he’s

sporting some horns, so it’s probably

a safe bet.

Maybe he underwent some special evolution from an ogre or

something.

Anyway, for the time being, we’ll just call him Mr. Oni.

And if my guess is right, Mr. Oni is probably

—

“Merazophis!”

A shriek from Vampy interrupts my thoughts.

Oof, my ears

are ringing!

Turning toward the source of the cry, I see Mera looking like he’s in

pain and the baby bloodsucker running up to him in a panic.

Come to think of it, Mera was sitting right across from me in the

igloo, which got sliced in half.

If that attac

k blew me away, then it must’ve blown Mera away, too.

But while I had my scythe to defend me, Mera didn’t have anything

to soften the blow.

“My deepest apologies. I was unprepared.”

Um, come on.

How were you supposed to be prepared for a complete surprise

attack?

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261

It doesn’t make sense to me, but knowing Mera’s serious personality,

he’s probably ashamed to have fallen victim to a totally unforeseen

sucker punch.

I guess he thinks he should have noticed earlier somehow.

“No, it’s fine. Let’s just heal your wo

unds.”

The baby bloodsucker starts casting Healing Magic on Mera.

Uh, helloooo? He’s not the only one hurting, y’know.

Just gonna ignore me?

I see how it is…

Left with no other choice, I use my scythe as a cane to drag myself to

my feet.

My whole body hurt

s, probably from getting bowled over by that

initial attack.

My arms are killing me. I wouldn’t be surprised if I broke a few

bones.

And on top of all that pain, the cold just makes it ten times worse.

Hmm, this isn’t looking good.

I’m not gonna die immedi

ately, but if things stay like this for too

long, I might be in serious trouble.

I could freeze to death within the hour.

Shoot. We’ve gotta take care of this problem and make a new igloo

to hide in.

How exactly are we supposed to solve this issue, though?

I look toward Mr. Oni, still locked in battle with Sael.

It really is amazing how well he’s holding his own, but I think Sael’s

still going to win in the end.

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262

Sael looks like she has a lot more energy to spare than he does.

Each of Sael’s stats is over te

n thousand, she wields six swords, she

can move them in typically impossible ways because she’s a puppet,

and she’s even got Poison and Dark Magic like any good spider

monster.

Between their high stats, solid strength, and tricky strategies, puppet

spiders

are really difficult to take on, especially if you’ve never seen

one before.

Thus far, they’ve mostly faced only enemies so weak that they could

kill them in one hit or enemies like the tank from two years ago that

are so strong, they can’t even fight bac

k, so the puppet spiders

haven’t had much of a chance to show off their skills, but they really

are multitalented.

They’ve got the abilities of spider monsters, and since they control

human

shaped puppets, they can imitate human movements, too.

Not to ment

ion, those puppets can move in ways humans can’t, and

they don’t need to worry about getting hurt.

Frankly, as long as their stats are evenly matched, the spider puppets

can beat just about anyone.

They’re invaluable allies.

…Even if it’s easy to forget th

at when they’re so useless most of the

time.

Anyway, if this battle keeps going like this, my money’s on Sael to

win.

It’s been so long since she faced an evenly matched opponent that it

almost seems like she’s panicking and not using her abilities to thei

fullest, but I’m sure that’s just my imagination.

Yeah, let’s go with that.

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263

Once Sael calms down, things will turn even more in her favor, I’m

sure.

But should we really be okay with that?

I mean, this oni here definitely looks like

—

“You’ve certainly do

ne it now.”

Interrupting my thoughts yet again, Vampy stands up slowly.

You can almost feel the rage over her precious Mera’s injury rippling

off her body.

I think I can actually see a black aura around her.

Um, hellooo? You’re still gonna ignore me even a

fter you healed

Mera?

I managed to stand up somehow, but I’m still in pretty rough shape,

y’know.

So you haven’t noticed me at all? I see…

But that’s going to be a bit of a problem.

I have to stop the bloodsucker from charging at Mr. Oni, so I start

wobbli

ng my way toward her.

“Lady White!”

Mera, bless his heart, notices me first.

He stands up, his body already healed by the little vamp’s magic and

his own automatic self

healing.

His clothes got torn up in the attack, so he looks kind of wild and

sexy, like

the cover of a romance novel.

Between him and Mr. Oni, that’s two men now who are severely

underdressed for the cold here.

“Ah.”

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264

The baby bloodsucker looks at me blankly.

What do you mean,

You forgot about me, huh? You totally forgot I existed!

“Oh d

ear! We’ve got to heal you right away!”

After a momentary look of

Oops!

Vampy hurriedly transitions to a

panicked expression and runs over to me.

Yeah, I’m sure you really are panicked, but isn’t half of it because you

forgot all about me for a minute ther

As she somewhat awkwardly starts the healing, I can’t help

glowering at her a little.

But now’s not the time for such petty thoughts.

“Look.”

As Vampy heals me, I point at the oni, locked in battle with Sael.

I know it’s rude to point, but I can’t worry

about that at the moment.

“Oh yes. That must be the ogre we’ve heard so much about. Ogres

look a lot more like humans than you’d imagine, don’t you think?”

No, I know that part.

That’s not what I’m trying to say right now, though.

Wait, could it be that s

he hasn’t noticed?

I have no choice but to say out loud what’s been bothering me.

“Sasajima.”

This oni’s face looks very familiar to me.

But it isn’t one that I’ve seen in this world.

His face is among Hiiro Wakaba’s memories.

Along with the name Kyouya Sa

sajima, a Japanese high school boy.

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265

“What?”

Apparently, I was right: She hasn’t noticed. The baby bloodsucker

looks at me like I’m a crazy person.

So I’m forced to point at Mr. Oni again and say his name out loud.

“Kyouya Sasajima.”

“GRAAAAAAH!”

Looks like

that name set him off.

The oni’s roar echoes through the area.

It’s an inhuman sound, the howl of an ogre.

Startled by the sudden noise, Sael freezes in place for just a moment.

And the oni swings down the sword in his right hand without

hesitation.

The s

word is wreathed in flames, obviously different from his attacks

up until now.

Sael quickly recovers from her shock and jumps back, narrowly

avoiding the attack.

Cutting through air, the oni’s attack smashes into the ground instead.

And then an enormous cr

acking sound fills the air!

Flames ripple out from the center of impact, accompanied by a shock

wave.

The flames melt the ice, and the shock wave breaks the very earth!

Judging by the fact that Mr. Oni was evenly matched with Sael, I

already figured his st

ats had to be around the ten thousand mark.

Since the earth dragon Araba was able to use magic to create pillars

of earth instantly, and his stats were only around four thousand, you

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266

can tell that high stats basically grant the ability to cause natural

dis

asters at will.

So with stats above ten thousand, just striking the ground can

literally split it open.

But the results of that fracture are far wilder than I imagined.

Giant fissures start to spread from the sword stuck in the ground.

They’re so deep that

I can’t even see to the bottom.

And by looking at the cross section of those cracks, I learn the cause

of this unexpected level of destruction.

I had just assumed that this was ordinary ground, but that’s not true.

It’s actually made up of thick ice.

In o

ther words, we’re standing on a glacier.

The oni’s flame

based attack broke the glacier, forming a giant

crevasse.

Fortunately, the vampire duo and I are still standing on solid ground.

But Sael starts to get swallowed up.

Of course, Sael has Dimensional M

aneuvering, so she can handle

suddenly being airborne.

But that’s only if there isn’t someone attacking her.

“Sael!”

Vampy calls out a warning, but it’s a second too late. Mr. Oni

launches an attack directly at Sael in midair.

He’s using the other katana,

not the one in his right hand that broke

the glacier.

The sword produces lightning that lands a direct hit on Sael!

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267

Once the blinding flash and loud rumble have cleared, Sael is

nowhere to be seen.

She must have fallen into the crevasse.

I don’t think she’

s dead. If it was an enemy like the tank whose

attacks could break through resistances, that would be one thing, but

that was definitely lightning.

Sael has Lightning Resistance, and her magic resistance stats are over

ten thousand.

She won’t die that easi

ly.

But she’s probably not unharmed either, and we don’t know how

deep that crevasse goes, so there’s no way of knowing how long it’ll

take her to get back up.

Our most powerful ally is temporarily out of commission.

“GRAAAAAH!”

And then there’s the oni, w

ho’s charging toward us with what

definitely doesn’t look like friendly intentions.

We’re in big trouble.

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268

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269

THE

NOTES OF

BUIRIMUS THE

SUMMONER

Empire Calendar 1379

Seventh day of the Month of Abu

Today I arrived at the location of my new position.

It seems that plans to create a foothold in the Mystic Mountains

have been pro

ceeding little by little since before my arrival.

I was concerned that I would have to build a village from scratch but

found one already built at the base of the Mystic Mountains.

The people living there are soldiers who were sent here due to

particular c

ircumstances, like me.

They’ve all been stationed in this place because of bad behavior,

violation of military regulations, and so on.

You might even call it a penal colony.

I’m impressed that they were able to build a village at all in a place

like this,

with monsters from the Mystic Mountains constantly

appearing.

But this is where the hard work truly begins.

The mission that I’ve been given is to conquer the Mystic Mountains.

In other words, they want me to travel around this monster

ridden

mountain rang

e and secure a route to the demon realm.

There have been other attempts to cross the Mystic Mountains and

invade the lands of demons, but all of them have ended in failure,

thanks to the extreme cold and dense monster population of the

mountains.

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270

In other

words, I’ve been tasked with the impossible.

I’m certain that my superiors do not expect me to succeed, either.

All they want is for me to die a dog’s death in the Mystic Mountains.

Either that or they think I can at least make some small contribution

to t

he empire by reducing the number of monsters in the Mystic

Mountains ever so slightly.

I have no intention of dying, of course.

Even if I cannot conquer the mountains, if I slowly but surely produce

results, perhaps I will eventually be permitted to return

to the

imperial capital.

The capital, where my beloved wife and newborn child await.

I cannot die before I have even seen my child’s face.

I know not when I will be able to return, but I must persist until then.

Sixth day of the Month of Maya

It has been

some time since my arrival here.

In the beginning, I had to spend all my time maintaining the village,

but I’ve gradually reached the point where I can also spare some

time to explore the Mystic Mountains.

However, that exploration is currently proceeding

at a painfully slow

pace.

We’ve finally gathered enough cold

resistant equipment for our

group, but they become meaningless when venturing deep in the

mountains.

Even a short excursion is extremely dangerous in this cold.

On top of that, monsters that thri

ve in these climes often attack us.

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271

Most times, we can barely make any progress before we’re forced to

turn back.

And when we do make it past a certain point, goblins start to appear.

It would be reckless to attempt to engage with dangerous monsters

like g

oblins in these conditions, so we turn back without confronting

them whenever we see them.

While we must prioritize safety, we are simply not getting any

results.

How am I to earn back the respect of my superiors at this rate?

I keep assuring myself to be

patient.

Empire Calendar 1380

Twenty

Sixth day of the Month of Sata

Today, I received a letter from my wife.

Our daughter has been kidnapped.

As soon as I received the letter, I attempted to leave for the capital,

but my aide stopped me.

This village is a

penal colony in all but name.

If I leave without permission, I will be treated as a deserter.

Though I couldn’t bear not to act, my frantic aide somehow

persuaded me to desist.

However, I am ill at ease.

I sent letters to every last one of my acquaintances

in the imperial

capital, pleading for a way to get permission to return.

Surely even the authorities in the capital would not deny me when

my daughter has been kidnapped.

I am concerned most, however, for my daughter’s safety.

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272

This village is a considerab

le distance away from the imperial capital.

Since I’ve just received the letter, that means that a fair amount of

time has already passed since my daughter was kidnapped.

How is she faring?

I can scarcely bear to put pen to paper without knowing what might

happen to my daughter as I do so.

Oh, gods.

Please protect my daughter.

Fourteenth day of the Month of Nahe

The only replies I receive from the capital say that they cannot

permit me to leave this village.

It seems the conditions of my banishment are more

serious than I

realized.

I am being held responsible for the deaths of my entire squad, and so

I was sent here because I could not provide sufficient explanation,

but it turns out there is more to it than that.

The spider monster I encountered in the Grea

t Elroe Labyrinth

—

the

one that is now known as the Nightmare of the Labyrinth

—

has left

its underground lair and started to wreak havoc on the surface.

There are rumors, I am told, that it was our squadron that provoked

it into emerging from its nest.

This

is the accusation is the real reason I’ve been sent to this place.

That would explain the help that Sir Ronandt has been providing.

He must feel guilty that I was forced to carry all the blame for the

incident.

But it is only because Sir Ronandt was there

that I survived at all.

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273

I feel only gratitude toward him, not resentment.

Still, I am immensely grateful for his support.

In this remote region, we are always in need of supplies, and it is

thanks to Sir Ronandt’s support that we have been able to get them

So I must impose upon his kindness.

Besides, I now have urgent reason to rack up more achievements.

If I wait long enough, years perhaps, I imagine things will cool down

enough that I will be allowed to return.

However, if I wish to ensure my daughter’s

safety, I must get to the

capital as soon as possible.

If I was permitted to leave, I would already be on my way, but then I

would almost certainly be captured as a criminal of the worst kind.

If this was simply an internal affair in the empire, then perha

ps they

would be willing to consider the extenuating circumstances and

allow it, but the Nightmare caused trouble in another nation.

If the empire chose to place the blame on me and relayed that

information to the other nations, then they cannot let me off

easily.

In order to get back to the capital, I must present some great

accomplishment to prove my worth.

What can I possibly do?

Fifth day of the Month of Haku

Recently, the goblins have been branching out of their territory.

It used to be that we saw

goblins only deep in the mountains, but

lately they appear even on the outskirts.

At this rate, they will soon encroach on the land near our village.

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274

Thus, I have had no choice but to give my men permission to engage

in battle with the goblins.

I only hope

that there will be no losses.

Thirteenth day of the Month of Haku

I have learned the reason behind the goblins’ recent territorial

expansion.

Their weapons have improved.

Goblins live far away from human settlements, forming their own

small communities, b

ut the level of their development has always

been far inferior to us humans.

As such, their weapons were always quite primitive, but recently

they have improved by leaps and bounds.

The weapons we seized from a group of goblins in battle were all

superior

in quality to our own.

Goblins are already a troublesome foe, but with weapons like these,

they’re exponentially more dangerous.

These weapons must be the reason the goblins have been able to

steadily expand.

But where are they getting such things?

It is n

o easy task to acquire weapons better than those of the

empire.

The ones we are using are mass

produced products, but they are still

weapons made by our homeland, which calls itself the greatest

nation in the world.

Even our mass

produced weapons would nev

er be considered

inferior.

Most of all, these were sent to us with the help of Sir Ronandt.

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275

But the goblins’ weapons are far stronger, the sort that an officer of

the imperial army might be given.

Even the empire would have difficulty amassing more than a

handful

of such weapons, yet every single one of these goblins has one.

Where in the world are they coming from?

Twenty

Seventh day of the Month of Haku

At last, we have amassed enough of the goblins’ weapons to equip

each of my men with one.

Today, we att

ack the goblin village.

We cannot simply allow them to keep expanding their territory, and

most of all, taking control of the goblin village in the Mystic

Mountains would be a considerable feat.

With an achievement like that, I may finally get permission t

o return

to the capital.

We have determined the location of their village by using a bird

monster I tamed to scout the area.

Since we have been prioritizing safety, our explorations have never

gone that far, but it is not impossible if we push ourselves en

ough.

It will be a dangerous gamble, but if we succeed, the path back to the

capital and my wife will be opened to me.

I have no choice.

Fourth day of the Month of Yafu

We succeeded in taking the goblin village.

Since we’d been attacking goblins outside th

e village to acquire their

weapons and lessen their numbers, the raid went rather smoothly.

Most of the goblins left in the village were young children, their

mothers, and elderly goblins.

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276

Thanks to that, we did not suffer any of the losses I initially fea

red.

A few men were injured, but none was killed.

Truly, the gods smiled upon us.

Not only that, but we even resolved a long

standing mystery: the

source of the goblins’ weapons.

One of the goblins had a special skill the likes of which we had never

seen o

r even heard of before: Weapon Creation.

It’s a truly incredible skill that uses MP to create weapons from

nothing.

With enough MP, the user can create a limitless amount of high

quality weapons.

It’s a terrifying skill, but that also means it’s an invalua

ble one to

have on your side.

It was nothing short of miraculous fortune that I was able to enslave

the goblin with that skill.

Fortune was on my side this day.

Otherwise, that goblin might have taken its incredibly valuable skill

to the grave.

I was lucky

that the goblin’s level was low, too.

It generally takes a long time to restrain a monster enough to

gradually gain control over it, but this goblin’s level was low enough

that I was able to do so more easily than I expected.

But while I’ve gained physica

l dominion over it, its mind still rebels

against me.

I must continue to strengthen my hold until it is complete.

Enslaving a monster with an incredible skill like this is an even

greater achievement than I could have hoped for.

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277

I wiped out the goblin vill

age, and I captured this goblin that can

create high

quality weapons.

This should make the perfect souvenir for the imperial capital.

As soon as the empire finds out about this, they will have me return

to the capital.

Soon, I can finally see my wife again

And begin the search for my daughter.

Eighteenth day of the Month of Yafu

I wish to return to the capital as soon as possible, but first I must wait

for their response.

Meanwhile, I have continued to train the goblin.

First, I must grasp the finer detail

s of the Weapon Creation skill.

It seems to take a great deal of MP, so the goblin can make only one

weapon a day at most.

Still, producing one high

quality weapon per day is extraordinary

enough.

In addition, it appears that the quality of the weapon prod

uced is

directly proportional to how much MP is used to create it.

Thus, the wisest course of action would be to increase the goblin’s

amount of MP.

I have been capturing monsters in the Mystic Mountains and

bringing them to the goblin so that it can finis

h them off and raise its

level.

After repeating this process over and over, the goblin evolved into a

hobgoblin, greatly improving its base MP.

Its Weapon Creation skill has also leveled up, allowing it to give the

weapons special effects.

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278

As unbelievable

as it sounds, the creature can now create magic

swords.

Magic swords. Incredibly rare weapons created from the parts of

powerful monsters that carry certain special effects.

Even in the empire, only a few of the highest

ranking officers carry

magic swords.

And now we can mass

produce them.

With this goblin, I am guaranteed a high position.

Surely the empire will be eager to welcome me back to the capital.

How I long to return to my wife.

Is my daughter safe?

Has my wife fallen ill with worry?

My wife and da

ughter are all I can think about.

Eighth day of the Month of Kade

I still have yet to receive a response from the imperial capital.

Worse, my control over the goblin is beginning to reach its limits.

It is still under my control, but there is a darkness wi

thin it now.

The creature has gained ominous skills like Anger and Curse, and

they grow in level almost daily.

It is clear that even though I have control over it, the goblin still

carries a deep grudge against me for destroying its village.

Another goblin

that I subjugated on the same day has long since

submitted to my control, but this one must have a remarkable force

of will.

Somehow, I feel an ill omen about all this.

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279

Perhaps I should not have raised its level so and forced it to eat its

own kind so tha

t it would gain titles?

It may have been wiser to wait until it was completely under my

control before strengthening it.

After all, this goblin does have that mysterious skill called n% I = W.

If memory serves, the Nightmare of the Labyrinth had the very s

ame

skill.

I have heard nothing further about the Nightmare; perhaps the

rumors have simply not reached this far.

Still, that was an incredibly powerful monster.

It would be no surprise if it caused serious problems.

And this goblin has the same skill.

Doe

s that mean it’s of a similar nature to the Nightmare?

If so, then the day may come that I can no longer control it.

And yet, I cannot afford to let go of this goblin.

I must return to the capital as soon as possible.

The notes end here.

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280

THE

DEMON

LORD AND THE

ICE

DRAGON

“I messed uuuup!”

Things have been going so well, I let my guard down!

I chose the wrong way to deal with those monkeys, big

time.

Shit.

White’s gonna die!

“Aaargh!”

I kick at one of the dead monk

eys to vent my frustration.

It’s all their fault that things got so complicated.

I could’ve finished the rest of them with a flashy move, but I was

afraid to set off another avalanche, so I wound up taking way too

long to kill them all.

And while I was doi

ng that, White and the others got swept out of

the range of my detection.

I just hope they’re all right…

“Let’s go find them, quick!”

Snapping orders at Ael and company, I look down at where the

avalanche led.

“In a hurry, are we?”

A telepathic voice from

above stops me in my tracks.

Looking up, I see ice dragon Nia, the ruler of the Mystic Mountains.

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281

She descends to the ground near us, landing with far more grace

than you’d expect from her giant form.

“Yes. So why do you need to bother me right now?” My to

ne comes

out harsher than I intended, but I’m pretty annoyed right now.

“Oh dear. You seem to be in a foul mood.”

“If you’ve got no business with me, I’m going to head out now,

okay?”

“If I had no business with you, surely I would not have shown myself

lik

e this.”

Nia’s teasing tone just annoys me even more.

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Recognizing my frustration, Nia smirks even more infuriatingly.

For half a second, I consider killing her on the spot, but that time

could be better spent looking for my lost f

riends.

“Come now

—

wait a moment.”

As I start to turn away, Nia stops me again.

Honestly, talking to her stresses me out so much that I want to

ignore her.

“I would not have spoken were I simply passing through, but I do

wish to raise a complaint or two abo

ut all the destruction you’ve just

caused in my domain.”

“…What’re you getting at?”

“Dear me. An apology following wrongdoing is the natural course

of things, is it not?”

Damn her!

Is she threatening me at a time like this?!

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282

“I don’t think I did anything w

rong, actually. It was just an accident.

Not our fault.”

“Alas, think of my poor kin. With all these powerful outsiders

wreaking havoc in my domain, and right under my nose at that, surely

they will be unable to sleep soundly for all their terror. What a c

ruel

fate.”

The ice dragon shakes her head with exaggerated lamentation.

I’d almost forgotten.

It’s been so long since I saw her that I almost forgot which of the

dragons was the most obnoxious!

“Want me to relieve them of that terror by putting them to sl

eep

forever, then?”

I’m half

serious with this threat, but Nia seems unbothered.

“Are you quite certain? I doubt my lord would sit idly by as you

slaughtered my kin.”

It’s awfully petty of her to name

drop Gülie right now, if you ask me.

I guess when the g

od’s away, the dragons will play.

That being said, the god really would back her up in this situation,

which only makes it even more obnoxious.

“Besides, I do not think to ask anything so dramatic of you. The

liquor you have in that carriage, for example,

would be more than

enough.”

Yeah, I guess that would be a small price to pay for her to leave me

alone.

But it was a bad idea to piss me off even more at a time like this.

“I’ll pass.”

“Hrmmm?”

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283

Nia looks surprised; she must not have expected me to say no.

If she thinks mentioning Gülie is enough to get everyone to do

whatever she wants, she’s dead wrong.

“Are you quite certain?”

“That’s my final answer. You sure you wanna keep pissing me off?

’Cause I

will

end you. Don’t think I won’t.”

Nia becomes flustere

d, probably sensing that I’m dead serious.

“Wait, wait! If any harm comes to me, my lord will be truly cross,

you know!”

“Yeah, well, it’s too late for that. I’ve already killed Gakia. Do I have

to spell out the rest for you?”

Nia freezes.

“What did you sa

y?”

“Earth dragon Gakia’s dead. I killed him. The wheels are already

turning; you just don’t know about it.”

Earth dragon Gakia.

The leader of the earth dragons, who protected the Great Elroe

Labyrinth.

He was one of the major dragon powers, just like Nia

here.

With him gone, big changes are already underway.

Knocking off one more dragon won’t change that now.

“Well? Your move.”

“All right! I’m sorry!”

Nia hurriedly apologizes, always quick on the uptake.

“If you’re sorry, could you stop this stupid blizzar

d already? You

don’t normally make this much snow, do you?”

“O

of course. But could you not wait a little longer first, please?”

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284

“Say what?”

“All right, all right!”

My glare makes Nia quickly withdraw her

request.

“I’ll stop! Just quit looking at me like t

hat!”

Petty people like her sure change their tune quickly when they

realize they’re in hot water.

“However, controlling the weather is no small feat. I shall cease my

technique at once, but it will not immediately improve, you see. Please

understand.”

“Fi

ne.”

I guess even Nia can’t change the weather this fast.

“I’m in a hurry, so bye.”

“Please leave at once. Honestly. First that little brat, and now you?

What a horrid sequence of events.”

I need to start looking for White and the others right away, but

mething about Nia’s comment makes me pause.

“Little brat? Was it an ogre, by chance?”

“Hrmmm? No, it was an oni. At any rate, since it returned to my

domain, it has caused nothing but trouble, running about and killing

everything in sight. In fact, it was

on such a rampage that I had to give

it a stern scolding.”

Oni… An advanced evolution of an ogre.

I’m guessing that infamous ogre must have evolved, then.

But what does she mean by

returned

? “Is it originally from the Mystic

Mountains, then?”

“Indeed. Once

, it was but a mere goblin. Who knows what

possessed it to evolve into an ogre. Well, I suppose it must have been

because of the events that forced it to leave this place, most likely.”

A goblin?

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285

Now, that’s odd.

Goblins technically can evolve into ogres,

but that means giving up

being a goblin, so I’m pretty sure they usually don’t do that.

Goblins take a lot of pride in their species. It’s unthinkable for one to

evolve into an ogre, unless something crazy happens to give them no

choice.

“What happened?”

“

To put it briefly, humans attacked the goblin village and destroyed

it. I believe that particular brat was then forcibly enslaved by the

humans, who led it away.”

Ah. Well okay, then.

I guess that’d be a good reason for a goblin to evolve into an ogre.

Put

ting this story together with the ones we heard in town, I’d be

willing to bet that goblin was taken to that now

abandoned village at

the foot of the mountains.

Then it must’ve broken free of their control somehow and exacted

its revenge.

Afterward, it ran

into those adventurers and turned the tables on

them, I suppose.

“Gotcha.”

“Truly, those humans do the most despicable things. No wonder

that poor little brat flew into a rage.”

Hmm?

Something about Nia’s words strikes me as strange.

Is this pompous jerk

actually feeling bad for someone?

“They didn’t just destroy its village?”

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286

“I can say no more, for it is too repulsive. All I shall say is that it may

be in the brat’s best interest for it to die here.”

I guess they did more than just wreck its village, the

“Wait, you said you

scolded

it, but you didn’t kill it?”

“Indeed. I cannot kill it directly, by order of our lord. As such, I simply

arranged for it to die of its own accord with a little help from this

blizzard. The creature stubbornly clings to life,

however.”

…If it dies from a blizzard that you caused, wouldn’t that still be

killing it directly?

I just don’t understand dragons’ logic.

And wait, why did Gülie tell her not to lay a hand on it anyway?

“Incidentally, were you not in a hurry?”

Something s

tarts to click in my head, but Nia interrupts before I can

quite grasp it.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.”

I have to find those four who got swept away by the avalanche.

The other three might be fine, but White’s weak right now.

If I don’t find her soon, it might

be too late.

In fact, she might be dead already, for all I know…

Can a normal person survive getting caught in an avalanche?

Somehow, I have the feeling White wouldn’t let something like that

kill her, but I don’t have any grounds for that.

Either way, I

should really find her as soon as possible.

“Ael.”

I nod to the puppet taratect who’s carrying the carriage.

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287

Ael understands what I mean right away, produces something from

the carriage, and places it in front of Nia.

“What is this?”

“We’ll just call it pa

yment for the information.”

Pushing the barrel full of alcohol toward Nia, I head in the direction

of the avalanche’s end, for real this time.

“Many thanks.”

Nia sounds pleased.

Waving her off without slowing down, I begin my search.

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288

’

M IN A

BIND

Mr. Oni comes charging at us w

ith a roar.

It’s just the baby bloodsucker, Mera, and me.

But I’m a normie now, so I don’t even count as a fighter.

I guess the baby bloodsucker is probably the strongest of the three of

us, but even she isn’t as strong as Sael and the other puppet spiders

And since Mr. Oni was an even match for Sael, I doubt our little

vampire will be able to take him on.

So what am I supposed to do now?

That’s obvious. Ruuuuun!

I turn away from the charging oni and flee for my life.

Vampy did a little Healing Magic on me

earlier, so while I’m not at

100 percent, I can at least manage to run.

For as long as my shitty stamina holds out anyway!

But it’s better than doing nothing!

It’s not like I’m running away because I’m only thinking of myself,

okay?

To put it bluntly, I’m

nothing more than a burden in battle right now.

Aside from my total lack of strength, my defense is disturbingly low,

too, so just getting caught in the middle of a battle could get me

killed.

So the bloodsucker duo won’t be able to fight to their fullest

potential if they have to worry about me being nearby.

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289

Look, if I would be any use at all, I’d be fighting right there with

them!

But this is the reality: I’m not just useless, I’d actually make things

harder for them.

It’s in everyone’s best interest if

I hightail it out of there so I won’t

get in the baby bloodsucker’s and Mera’s way.

So no, I’m not just running to save my own hide.

I’ve

run

out of options! Get it?

Behind me, I hear a loud, roaring

boom

I guess the battle has begun.

And it’s waaay too c

lose to me, too!

I can actually feel the air crackling from close behind me.

Like,

real

close.

Yeah, I guess with my pathetic physique, even a full

speed dash

doesn’t amount to much.

Besides, we’re talking about a beast whose stats probably rank in the

ten

thousands who moves too fast to follow with the naked eye.

It was stupid of me to think I could get away in the first place.

I can hear all kinds of ridiculous battle noises right behind me, like

POW!

and

KABOOM!

Time out, time out!

Can’t you at least wai

t until I get a safe distance away, please?!

I’m kinda super

serious right now!

But then my wish gets granted, kinda: The shock wave from one of

the attacks impacts my body, sending me rolling far away.

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290

Phew. Guess I’m just blessed with good luck as a rewa

rd for being so

good all the time!

Never mind the fact that I looked really silly in the process or that if

I’d rolled any farther, I would’ve fallen right into a seemingly

bottomless crevasse.

Yikes, that was close!

I stand up and edge away slooowly, taki

ng care not to fall in.

If I panic and try to run away, you just know the ice’ll crack beneath

my feet and I’ll fall in anyway.

As it stands, I’m already hearing some unsettling cracking noises, so I

have to be really careful with how I take my distance he

re.

Finally, I make it far enough away from the crevasse and check that

I’m not too close to the battle. I’m safe for now.

A battle like that could easily shift a mile in any direction, so this

distance can help me only so much, but it’s better than nothin

Ideally, I should keep moving to get even farther away, but…sorry,

I’m kinda pooped already.

I’m wheezing like crazy, and my shoulders are heaving.

Nope. I can’t move anymore.

Not to mention, the air is so cold that it hurts to breathe.

You’d think runn

ing at full speed would’ve warmed me up, but it only

made me colder.

Right. Mr. Oni isn’t the only pressing concern here.

This freezing cold is just as bad.

If I stay out in this cold much longer, I’ll probably turn into an ice

sculpture before you know it

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I’ve gotta do something, and fast.

But the best way to deal with Mr. Oni is to wait for Sael to make her

way back.

Even together, I don’t think the bloodsucker duo can beat this oni, so

it’s best if they just try to buy time.

We have to hurry or I’ll fre

eze to death, but we have to buy time to

defeat Mr. Oni. Talk about a dilemma.

Hey, why is Mr. Oni attacking us anyway?

“GRAAAAAH!”

Oh right. As far as I can tell, he’s lost his damn mind.

It kinda seems like he’s just attacking anything in sight at this p

oint.

I mean, when he first attacked us, we were hidden inside an igloo, so

it’s not like he even knew who we were before he came after us.

I guess he must’ve seen the signal Mera sent up, figured someone

was there, and just came over to attack for no othe

r reason?

Maybe it’s best to assume that he’s nothing more than a beast in

humanoid form at this point. Although even a beast might be better

at choosing its battles.

Hrmmm.

Something about Mr. Oni’s current condition kinda rings a bell.

He’s lost his mind

But he has stats high enough to compete with Sael.

Is this a Wrath skill?

The Wrath line of skills, like Anger and Rage, raises your stats. And

unlike Magic and Mental Warfare, it doesn’t even cost SP or MP.

Sounds great, right? But there’s a major catch

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Like they say, nothing in this world is free. Wrath doesn’t seem to

cost anything, but there’s actually a very high price.

The loss of your sanity.

When you activate a Wrath skill, it makes you frothing mad, forcing

you to go off the rails.

Then you give

in to the anger and go on a rampage, but the scariest

part is that if you don’t turn the skill off with your own will, you’ll just

keep rampaging forever.

And the longer you leave the skill active, the more the anger eats

away at your mind.

Lose yourself

to the rage, and you’ll eventually lose the self

awareness to turn off the skill entirely.

In the end, you’ll become a berserker, indiscriminately attacking

everyone and everything.

It lines up perfectly with Mr. Oni’s current state.

This is just an educat

ed guess, but I’d bet money that I’m right.

Ahhh, if only I could use Appraisal, I could prove that my theory is

correct!

Oh, Vampy learned Appraisal, come to think of it.

I’m the one who suggested it to her.

But I don’t have time to tell her that now.

And

definitely

don’t wanna stick my nose into that crazy face

off.

“Oof!”

Just then, the baby bloodsucker lets out a cute little cry as she gets

blown away and crashes right into me!

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293

Of course, I can’t catch her in place, so the impact just sends us both

lling along the ground.

Ow.

I think I’m gonna cry.

“Hff! Hff!”

Vampy wheezes, quickly jumping away from me and standing up.

Her body’s covered in cuts and scrapes, but the wounds are closing

up even as I look at them.

Now, that’s some speedy self

healing t

here, missy.

Don’t suppose you could spare a little healing for the person you just

crashed into and injured?

Oh, you don’t have time?

Right, since Vampy got blown over here, that means Mera is holding

the front lines by himself.

His sword is broken in hal

f, so he’s fending off Mr. Oni’s barrage of

attacks with the handle and tiny stump of a blade.

Obviously, that’s not enough to block all of the oni’s attacks, since he

has two not

broken katanas, so Mera’s slowly getting more and

more wounded.

And Vampy’s

in an even worse situation. She doesn’t have any

weapons at all.

She’s still just a child, so her body’s too small to hold weapons in the

first place.

And it doesn’t help that her favorite kind of weapon is a big ol’

broadsword.

It’s way too hard to lug so

mething like that around all the time, so

her broadsword is usually in the carriage.

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294

And we don’t have the carriage right now, which means she doesn’t

have her sword, either.

It looks like she used magic to make herself an ice sword on the spot,

but a sing

le attack from Mr. Oni shatters it.

She’s pretty much fighting with her bare hands.

It’s crazy to take on an armed opponent like that, magic or no.

But after catching her breath for just a second, she’s already trying to

charge back into the fight.

I grab

the hem of her clothes to stop her. Since I’m still on the

ground, that means her pants.

“What?!” she snaps angrily. “I’m busy!”

Yeah, I guess I can’t blame her for getting mad when I’m literally

holding her back.

But I need her to listen to me for a secon

“Appraisal.”

“Huh?! …Oh.”

What do you mean,

You forgot about it, didn’t you?! You totally forgot Mr. Appraisal

even existed!

How could you do that to a dear friend who was so useful to me

before my deification?!

“Check for the Anger skill.”

I manag

e to push down my own fury enough to tell her what I’m

thinking.

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295

She doesn’t seem to know what I’m getting at, but she must feel

guilty about forgetting Appraisal, because it looks like she’s doing it

anyway.

“It’s not there. Ah, no, wait a second. He has

a skill called Wrath!”

Wait, what?

Yikes. Okay, that’s actually even worse than I thought.

I’d assumed that maybe his Anger skill had evolved into Rage.

The Anger skill raises your stats but not nearly enough to put

someone on the same level as Sael.

If it

gave you that much power, I probably would’ve used Anger more

myself, even with the risk of losing my sanity.

So I figured there was a good chance it had turned into the more

advanced version, Rage.

But it’s already turned into Wrath?

That’s one of the su

per

broken Seven Deadly Sins skills.

Considering how overpowered the other Seven Deadly Sins skills are,

Wrath is definitely bad news.

And if it evolved from Anger and Rage, then it must have a super

enhanced version of the same effect: sacrificing your sa

nity to give

your stats a huge boost.

No wonder he was able to fight evenly with Sael!

I’m sure the only reason the imperial army was able to chase him off

was that he must have been too afraid of losing his mind to use

Wrath.

But he must have used it when

he got cornered by those elves, or

else he got attacked by an ice dragon and used it here in the Mystic

Mountains.

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296

Either way, he must have activated Wrath and lost his mind to get to

this point.

It all makes sense.

And that means I have a plan.

“Sophia,

use your Jealousy skill on Wrath!”

Vampy looks shocked by my uncharacteristically strong words.

But then her expression changes to understanding. Maybe she used

Appraisal to read the details about the Wrath skill.

“Got it!”

Vampy nods and takes off.

The Je

alousy skill is a lesser version of Envy, one of the Seven Deadly

Sins skills like Wrath.

Its effect is similar to a skill I used to have called Sealing Evil Eye: It

seals one of the target’s skills.

Obviously, that means they can’t use it anymore.

If we c

an seal Mr. Oni’s Wrath skill, then his stats should go way

down.

On top of that, maybe he’ll even regain his sanity.

Then we can find out whether he really is Kyouya Sasajima.

If so, then he’d be the second fellow reincarnation I’ve encountered,

after the

baby bloodsucker. I’d like to avoid him getting killed if at all

possible.

But that second

is a pretty big one.

This may sound cold, but I can’t prioritize his life over Vampy’s,

Mera’s, and my own.

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So I don’t want the bloodsucker duo to do anything to

o risky, but

Vampy’s eyes are sorta blazing right now…

She’s definitely determined to win no matter what.

As I learned from her mock battles with Ael, it turns out the baby

bloodsucker is a really sore loser.

Every time Ael beat her, she would always sulk

afterward.

I guess knowing from the start that she wouldn’t win didn’t make her

any less mad about losing.

On top of that, she seems to be a bit battle

crazy. Like, she really

loves to fight.

The reason she didn’t stop training even after I got deified and

couldn’t practice with her anymore is definitely that battle

hungry,

winning

obsessed side of her.

Even now, there’s a genuine smile on her face as she fights Mr. Oni.

Up till now, her expression had been serious, since her and Mera’s

lives were in seriou

s danger; now that there’s a hope of victory,

though, she seems to be enjoying herself.

Yikes. That’s hella scary, girl.

But we can’t count our chickens just yet.

The Jealousy skill doesn’t instantly take effect.

It’ll take time to seal off the Wrath skill

In fact, I don’t even know if a crazy

overpowered skill like Wrath can

be sealed at all.

The only way we’re gonna survive this is if either the baby

bloodsucker can seal Mr. Oni’s Wrath skill or if Sael comes back to

the fight.

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298

Either way, it all depends

on the bloodsucker duo being able to buy

enough time.

But, uh…

An unpleasant cracking sound fills the air.

It’s coming from the ground.

The ground right nearby, no less.

The creaking, splitting sound keeps getting louder with time.

We’re on top of a giant

glacier right now, so the ground below us is

actually ice.

Ice that’s been piled up on top of real ground, since it’s too cold in

the Mystic Mountains for it to melt.

But Mr. Oni’s attack earlier made a huge fissure, and the shock

waves as the battle cont

inues are only widening that gap.

It’s freezing cold out here, yet I feel like I’m sweating.

(Cold sweat, of course.)

This doesn’t look good, guys.

This glacier is going to collapse!

If this glacier is big enough to form a crevasse so deep that you can’t

ee the bottom, what do you think is gonna happen if the whole

thing breaks?

Sadly, my imagination is too flimsy to picture it.

But I know one thing for sure:

I’ll die!

I’m definitely gonna die if I get caught up in the collapse of a giant

glacier!

Waaaaah!

What am I gonna do?!

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299

For now, I better start by getting away from here.

But I’m too tired to move another inch!

I can barely even stand up!

I can’t do anything at all!

Save me, D

raemon!

But no matter how much I silently cry for help, no one is coming to

save me.

Reality is cruel.

Maybe I used up all my luck on that rolling escape earlier…

“Ahhh?!”

To make matters worse, I hear Vampy cry out in pain.

Her small body has been pierced through by one of the oni’s blades.

Blood oozes from the wound, staining he

r clothes red.

Mera is lying at Mr. Oni’s feet with no arms.

The oni cut off both his arms.

And yet, he’s still biting Mr. Oni’s leg from the ground.

Even without arms, Mera’s still desperately trying to protect Vampy.

But Mr. Oni kicks him away impatientl

y, and without his arms, Mera

can’t stop himself from rolling away.

He tries to crawl back over, but it looks like his body isn’t obeying

him anymore, so he just writhes around.

Mr. Oni flings Vampy off his sword, too, like he’s shaking away a bit

of blood

It’s an awful sight.

But Mera and the baby bloodsucker are both still alive, at least.

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300

Mera is definitely mortally wounded, but he’s still moving, and the

baby bloodsucker has the Undying Body skill, which lets her survive a

normally deadly attack once p

er day, leaving her with 1 HP.

She seems to have passed out from the shock of being stabbed, but

she’s not dead, or at least she shouldn’t be.

But they’re still in major trouble.

They may be alive now, but one more attack and they’ll be done for.

However,

for better or for worse, Vampy doesn’t get attacked again.

Why? Because Mr. Oni has set his sights on me.

Wait.

Me?!

I whip my unmoving body into shape, forcing myself to my feet using

the scythe as a cane.

It’s not like I’ll be able to do anything else ju

st because I’m standing

now, but I’d like to think it’s better than doing nothing at all.

Just as I get to my feet, the oni charges at me furiously.

Next thing I know, he’s right in my face.

Damn, this guy’s fast!

The wind pressure from Mr. Oni’s impossibl

e speed blows the hood

of my robe right off my head.

“?!”

When Mr. Oni sees my face, he suddenly freezes.

Huh?

Wait, does he actually recognize me?

I don’t think his Wrath skill is completely sealed, but maybe Vampy’s

Jealousy was able to bring him back to

his senses a tiny bit.

If I speak to him now, I might be able to set him straight!

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301

“Sasajima?”

Slowly, carefully, I say his name.

Mr. Oni’s face stiffens, and his eyes open wide.

After a conflicted pause, the light returns to his eyes for just a

second, o

nly to be engulfed once more by the flames of Wrath.

It didn’t work?!

Then I have no other choice.

I might be weaker than an average normie now, but you better

believe I’ll still put up a fight!

Besides, this giant scythe is full of power.

I can’t activate

any of that power myself, but if I manage to hit him

with it, maybe it’ll produce some kind of results.

Clinging to that faint hope, I raise my scythe against Mr. Oni.

But then Vampy bites down on his neck from behind!

“Mmmph!”

She pierces right through t

he skin and starts sucking his blood.

A baby vampire sucking an oni’s blood!

Now, there’s something you don’t see every day.

“Graaaaah!”

Mr. Oni howls and thrashes about, trying to shake off Vampy.

But she stubbornly clings to his body, refusing to let go.

You’re in no condition to be doing something this crazy!

Mr. Oni flails around violently, stamping his feet.

The impact causes the ice to emit a new sound, a much worse sound

than the ones it’s made so far.

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302

At the same time, the crevasse gets so big that

it’s more like a

canyon, and new cracks begin to spread around it.

Then the ice starts breaking off from those cracks and falling into the

crevasse.

It’s like watching the ground explode!

Mr. Oni gets caught up in the collapse, sinking downward.

And then h

e falls.

With Vampy still attached.

“SOPHIA!”

Now, this next part isn’t on purpose.

I mean, I’ve tried it a million times, and it always failed.

But in that instant, I guess my old reflexes just take over.

I start to picture white thread.

I imagine it comi

ng out of my fingertips.

The thread catches Vampy and pulls her back up.

I have no reason to believe this will actually work.

But somehow, thread really does come out of my fingertips, wrap

around Vampy, and stop her from falling.

After all those failed at

tempts, I just pulled it off super

smoothly at

the exact right time.

Talk about a deus ex machina.

But I’ll take it, thank you very much!

I brace my legs and pull Vampy back up.

Mr. Oni gets detached from her and falls backward into the darkness

of the cre

vasse.

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303

Unfortunately, I don’t have any spare strength to save him.

In fact, I’m about to fall in myself!

I’m not strong enough to lift a whole person, even if it’s a little girl!

I guess even if I can produce thread now, I still can’t make my

muscles any s

tronger.

Noticing my pained expression, Vampy hurriedly starts climbing the

thread.

Finally, she manages to scramble back up to solid ground.

But we’re not safe yet.

The glacier is still collapsing.

We have to get out of here, and fast.

“Where’s Merazophis

?!”

Vampy looks around frantically.

“There!”

Following her gaze, I see Mera on the verge of sliding into a fissure.

Shit!

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305

I quickly send out more thread.

It wraps around Mera’s body right as he slips over the edge, just

barely preventing him from

falling.

Vampy promptly snatches the thread from me and pulls Mera over.

“My apologies, Young Miss.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re all right.”

Mera looks at his master in anguish, but she warmly embraces him.

This is a heartwarming scene and all, but w

e don’t have time for this

right now!

We have to run, so I start to stand up.

But my legs promptly lurch to one side.

It’s not because I’m too tired to stand up.

No, the ground itself is tilting.

oh.

Before I can react beyond that thought, the ground we

’re standing

on gives way.

All three of us start to fall.

Vampy, use Dimensional Maneuvering!

I whirl to look at her, but the little girl’s eyes are closed.

She passed out still clinging to Mera!

I’m not surprised, since she pushed herself so far already,

but still!

Why couldn’t she last, like, thirty seconds longer?!

Mera’s too gravely wounded to move at all, never mind use

Dimensional Maneuvering!

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306

Just as I close my eyes and resign myself to my fate, the falling

suddenly stops.

Cracking my eyes open cauti

ously, I see that the three of us have

been caught by a white net.

And on the other end of the net is Sael.

SAAAAEL!

Perfect timing, girl!

Sael uses Dimensional Maneuvering to run through the sky, and we

escape the collapsing glacier.

I always thought Sael

was a little useless, but it goes without saying

that, right now, she’s the most dependable person in the world to

me.

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307

NEW

NEMESIS

When I open my eyes, I find myself looking up at the ceiling of a

white tent.

Since it’s made from Miss Ariel’s thread, it’s far sturdier

and more

weatherproof than it looks, enough so to be comfortable even in this

freezing cold.

It’s so nice that I’m tempted to snuggle back into the blankets for a

while longer.

It might be good to get some more sleep…

Rolling onto my side, I let my eyes fa

ll on Merazophis, lying close by.

Ahhh, he looks cool even when he’s passed out from his injuries.

Wait, what?!

Then I suddenly remember everything that happened before I lost

consciousness.

“Hmm? You awake?”

I look up to find Miss Ariel looking at me from

a chair a short distance

away.

“Yes. Good morning.” My brain is still fuzzy as I mumble a greeting.

“Morning.” Ariel raises an eyebrow. “You all right? Maybe you should

sleep a little longer.”

Kind and perceptive as always. She must be able to tell that I

haven’t

completely recovered just yet.

“No, I’m fine.”

Sitting upright, I survey my surroundings.

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308

Merazophis is resting by my side, and across from him, White is

doing the same.

Looking in the corner of the tent, I find Sael crouching meekly.

Everyone who

was at the glacier is here and safe.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Hang on a second.”

With that, Miss Ariel makes me a hot cup of tea.

“Thank you.”

I emerge from the blankets and sit down on the chair across from

Miss Ariel.

“Looks like you guys had a roug

h time of it.”

“A little.”

I nod as I drink down the tea.

It certainly was rough.

That was an extraordinary stroke of luck for all of us to have made it

out alive.

“Would you mind telling me the details of what happened? I got a

rough idea from White, but,

well, you know her…”

I know exactly what she means.

I’m sure White tried to explain, but she’s not the type to go into

detail. No doubt she just gave some one

word answers and Miss

Ariel had to figure out the rest.

“All right.”

I tell Miss Ariel the whole

story of what happened after we got

separated.

How we made an igloo and waited inside.

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309

How that ogre we’d heard so much about attacked us.

The life

and

death battle that ensued.

And how White called that ogre Kyouya Sasajima.

“Hrmmm. So this ogre

—

or, wait

, he evolved into an oni, right? Well,

never mind that. Was he really this Kyouya Sasajima person?”

Unsure how to answer Miss Ariel’s question, I sit in silence.

Miss Ariel waits patiently for my response.

Finally, I make up my mind to answer honestly.

“…I

don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I don’t actually remember most of my former classmates’

faces.”

None of my memories of my old school life are good.

In elementary and middle school I was bullied, and while that wasn’t

quite the case in high school, people c

ertainly gossiped about me on

a daily basis.

It would be no exaggeration to say that my parents were my only

allies.

So I certainly don’t remember my classmates’ faces very clearly.

In fact, I don’t even remember their names.

So I didn’t really have a face

to put to the name Kyouya Sasajima.

Since White said that name after seeing his face, then maybe that oni

had the same features Kyouya Sasajima did in our old world.

White has her old face, too, after all.

But I don’t remember Kyouya Sasajima in the first

place, so when I

say I don’t know, it’s the truth.

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310

Reluctantly, and with a bit of grumbling in the mix, I explain all this to

Miss Ariel.

“Ahhh.” Miss Ariel looks upward, her expression unreadable. “Well,

in that case…I guess I can’t blame you for not rem

embering, huh?”

“I should certainly hope not!”

I frown indignantly at her noncommittal answer.

“All right, all right.” She raises her hands in surrender. “But if it really

is Sasajima, what should we do? I’ve got Ael and the others out

looking for him righ

t now.”

“What do you mean?”

I’m not sure what Miss Ariel is asking exactly.

“I mean, he might already be dead. But if he is alive, should we kill

him or let him live?”

Ah, I see now.

She’s being considerate because he might be a reincarnation like me.

In t

hat case, I think the right course of action is obvious.

“Kill the bastard, of course.”

“Pffft!”

Miss Ariel snorts out a laugh.

“What are you laughing at?! Rude!”

“Sorry, sorry. But, uh, I think that was kinda your own fault, Sophia.”

“It’s not very nice t

o pass the blame onto others.”

“Right, right.”

Miss Ariel looks somehow displeased.

“What is it? Were you expecting me to say

please don’t kill him

?”

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311

“Hrmmm. Yeah, I guess so.”

“How absurd.”

“Absurd, huh…?”

Miss Ariel looks to the heavens and sighs.

“I mea

n, since you were born and raised in Japan, wouldn’t you

normally feel weird about, y’know, murder? Especially when it’s a

fellow Japanese person we’re talking about. Besides, from what you

guys told me, this Sasajima lost control of himself because of the

Wrath skill, right? He wasn’t doing it of his own free will. Shouldn’t

you take that into consideration?”

“We have a term for that in Japan, Miss Ariel. It’s called

involuntary

manslaughter

. And it’s still a crime.”

Miss Ariel looks up and sighs yet again

“Besides, even if I was born and raised in Japan in my old life, this

version of me was born in Sariella and raised all around this world. I

left my Japanese sense of ethics behind when my hometown was

destroyed. And I was never all that attached to my o

ld life anyway.

So why would I feel any obligation toward someone whose face I

don’t even remember?”

Miss Ariel…hasn’t stopped sighing since I started talking.

“On top of all that, we don’t know if he would have been decent

even if he wasn’t out of control

at the time. He even had that

repulsive Kin Eater title and all.”

“Huh?!”

When I saw that title in my Appraisal, I couldn’t believe my own eyes.

There’s only one condition I can think of that would make a person

gain that title, right?

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312

No one who would do

such a thing could possibly be a decent

person.

Even if he did it while he wasn’t in his right mind, it’s still repulsive.

“So that’s what Nia was talking about. What an atrocious thing to

do…”

I don’t know what Miss Ariel is muttering about, so I just ig

nore her.

“And most importantly! That damn bastard nearly killed Merazophis!

That’s more than enough cause to kill him!”

Miss Ariel covers her face and groans.

“How could I possibly forgive him after he injured Merazophis so

terribly? And Merazophis even a

pologized to me because of him! I

never want to see Merazophis make a face like that again… Although

it was kind of appealing in its own way. Um, I mean

—

! I couldn’t

possibly allow the bastard to live when he upset Merazophis so

much. I’d like to tear him

limb from limb myself, in fact. Oh, I know. I

can do to him what he did to Merazophis. I’ll slice off his arms, kick

him around, and laugh at him while he rolls across the ground! And

after that

—

”

“Okay, stop, stop, stop. I get it already,” Ariel interrupt

s, looking

exhausted. Then she mutters to herself, “Maybe we didn’t raise you

right…”

I’m sorry, what was that? Did you mean to say that out loud?

As I open my mouth to press her about it, Ael and the other girls

come into the tent.

“Welcome back. How’d it

go?”

Ael just shakes her head silently.

“I see. No good, huh?”

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313

She didn’t just get that from the gesture: Ariel is linked to the puppet

taratects with Kin Control, so she can understand them pretty well.

They must have relayed the situation to her that wa

“So apparently the glacier where you guys fought totally broke apart,

then actually slid down the side of the mountain like an avalanche.

Since Sasajima must have been caught up in all that, it’d be pretty

difficult to find him.”

I see.

Well, that’s a b

it of a shame.

“I guess he might be dead, huh?”

“No, he’s alive.” I shake my head. “My level hasn’t gone up.”

“Ah.”

I’m still at level 1.

I haven’t actually raised my level once since I was born.

The reason for this was an uncharacteristically lengthy expl

anation

from White:

“You shouldn’t level up until you max out your

enhancement skills.”

When skills that enhance your stats evolve, they exponentially

increase how much those stats go up with each level up.

White said that one of those skills, Skanda, was

really useful.

So I’ve been holding off on leveling up until my skills reach an

advanced level, too.

You can still raise your stats and skills without leveling up, after all.

And my level still hasn’t gone up, even now.

If we’d actually beaten such a power

ful enemy, surely my level

would have gone up quite a bit.

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314

So he’s definitely still alive, of that I have no doubt.

“Heh. And if he’s alive, then we’ll have to have a rematch someday.”

He and I will meet again.

I just know it.

“Yikes. Now, that’s a nasty s

mile.”

Miss Ariel mutters something under her breath.

Ael looks away indifferently, Sael is trembling in the corner, Riel tilts

her head uncertainly, and Fiel has a vacant look of

I don’t know

what’s going on, but wow

Then my eyes wander over to White.

“…

She saved me again.”

“Oh yeah. She can make thread again, huh? Maybe it’s like when

people get superhuman strength in times of crisis?”

Miss Ariel misses the point of my comment ever so slightly.

It certainly was a miracle she was able to produce thread in

that

situation, so I do think it’s amazing.

But to me, the most important point is that White saved me.

Again.

When I’m in trouble, White always comes to the rescue.

Two years ago, when White lost all her power, I have to admit that I

was thrilled.

I self

ishly thought I could finally repay my debt to her by protecting

her in her weakened state. Worse, I was just gleeful to see her not

all

powerful for once.

From my perspective, White was way too strong.

She could do anything, protect anyone.

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315

So she was alw

ays saving me, and I could never pay her back.

At the same time, it felt unfair that she was so strong.

So when she got weaker, I was secretly happy.

Awful, isn’t it?

But this incident made one thing clear: White is still strong.

Even in her weakened state

, she was still able to rescue me.

It’s not a matter of her physical prowess.

White is strong in a different way.

And I’m still weak, in body and mind.

“I want to get stronger…”

“I think you’re plenty strong already, Sophia.”

“Not at all.”

I can’t let Miss

Ariel comfort me.

I’m still so much weaker than her and the others.

“I have to get so much stronger!”

It won’t be easy to improve on my inner strength.

My awful nature has stuck with me since my former life.

I haven’t changed much.

Of course, I haven’t gi

ven up on myself yet. I have to improve, little

by little.

But it’s going to take time.

In the meanwhile, I can strengthen my body.

At the very least, I have to be able to defeat that awful oni.

Page |

316

“That’s it! I’m going to train even harder starting tomorrow.

Just you

watch! That bastard won’t beat me next time!”

“Hoo, boy. Just take it easy, all right?”

I clench my fists tightly.

Riel and Fiel imitate the gesture, while Ael discreetly edges away.

Sael?

She’s still just trembling in the corner.

“Hang in there,

Merazophis, buddy,” Miss Ariel mumbles.

She looks concerned, but it’ll be fine!

Merazophis has already done more than enough!

It’s my turn to get stronger, and I swear I will.

So that next time, I can be the one to rescue White.

And so that when that oni

and I meet again, I won’t lose.

Page |

317

Broken shards of ice litter the frozen landscape.

As if to mirror the destructive impulses of the person who broke

them.

The red blood scattered across the ground evokes the image

frozen fire.

A fire that never goes out.

There’s not a sound to be heard, as if everything has frozen over.

But even in that frozen field, the oni could not put out the flame

raging inside him.

The more his body froze, the hotter the flame burned.

Hotte

r and hotter.

Searing away his humanity, leaving nothing but flames of pure rage.

All he saw were things to be destroyed.

All he heard was infuriating noise.

All he smelled was the scent of prey.

All he tasted was blood, drawn from his own lips by gnashing

teeth.

And all he felt was deep, unending wrath.

“GRAAAAAAAH!”

There was no spark of sanity left in the oni’s eyes as he roared.

Page |

318

FTERWORD

Hello, I’m Okina

Baba.

As of today, I’ve just about run out of clever ideas to start off my

afterwords. What a pickle.

But don’t worry: I haven’t run out of ideas for my stories!

In fact, I’ve been writing so much that I’ve no idea how to fit it all in

one book.

What a pi

ckle.

Hmm? I’m in quite a few pickles?

Well, I can’t let that get to me. Nope, nope.

But the flow of the story has changed considerably from the web

version, and now I have to collect it all into volumes, so things do

actually seem kind of difficult right

now.

In the process, Mr. Gotou, who was just a named background

character in the web version, has inexplicably stolen quite a bit of the

spotlight.

Seriously, he wasn’t supposed to be important at all, but here he is

turning into a proper character.

And he

might just have more appearances in the future, so he’s

really come a long way.

Almost as much as Tiva, who didn’t appear whatsoever back in the

web version.

But I think the character who’s come the furthest is still Fei, who won

a regular spot in the S s

tory.

Anyway, in a volume where so many characters are getting different

treatment from their roles in the web version, it’s not just the

humans who have changed.

Page |

319

For some reason, Miss Ice Dragon wound up being a fully fleshed

out

character.

How did that h

appen? She didn’t even have a single line in the web

version.

Strange things happen every day, I suppose.

Come to think of it, there have been tons of dragons and wyrms in

every single volume of this series.

I guess you could say they’re the ones who have

benefited the most.

Let’s aim for dragons in every volume!

Finally, I’d like to say some thanks.

To Tsukasa Kiryu, who draws everything fantastically, be it human,

monster, or mech, thank you so much.

And thank you to Kakashi for drawing such heated battle

s in the

manga adaptation.

Volume 4 of the manga features some literally white

hot battles in

the fiery Middle Stratum, so be sure to check it out.

To my current editor, W, and everyone else who helped make this

book a reality.

And to everyone who picked u

p this book.

Thank you very much.

Page |

320

Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Yen On.

To get news about the latest manga, graphic novels, and light novels

from Yen Press, along with special offers and exclusive content, sign

up for the Yen Press news

letter.

Or visit us at

www.yenpress.com/booklink

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321

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Sunday, November 22, 2020

Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? - 8

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