Chapter 108
“Derby-sama, there’s something you need to know! Sarjes’ army has appeared at the village entrance!”
Upon hearing the words of the young centaur who rushed in, the old centaur turned pale and looked outside. Apparently, his name was Derby, but now was not the time to be concerned about that. It seemed that something bad was happening.
“Sarjes?”
“He’s the bugkin in charge of the demihuman village. He’s a disgusting spider demihuman.”
When Sei heard that he was a disgusting spider demihuman, he immediately thought of the male spiderkin they met in Draupnir. Considering his ability, it wouldn’t be mistaken to think he had a decent position, so it wouldn’t be strange if he was leading an army. Derby raised his hand to stop Sei and the others from going out, while he told them he himself would go.
“Maybe they’re just here to look around. You guys should stay here.”
Leaving Sei in the house, Derby took a few young centaurs and left for the village entrance. And then, they confronted the bugkin’s army. Led by a male spiderkin, the other side had a lamia, a dryad, and a merman as well as an assortment of bugkin with weapons standing behind them. On the other hand, there were only a few centaurs. If a fight broke out, the latter wouldn’t be a match.
“What do you want?”
“Humans have infiltrated the village. They should be here…Bring them out.”
“Don’t know. Those guys aren’t here.”
“They’re disguised as demihumans. You don’t remember them?”
“There’re so many demihumans, I can’t remember them all. Leave.”
Confronted by the intimidating spiderkin, Derby responded forcefully without a hint of weakness. The atmosphere between them was like a hair-trigger situation. It wouldn’t be strange if a battle broke out. The dryad, who was behind the spiderkin, puffed her cheeks and glared at the centaurs.
“How arrogant! Are you trying to oppose us?!”
“Do you want to attack us? Oh, good. Do it then. That will free Sagittarius-sama.”
“Annoying—!”
Vocalizing her annoyance, the dryad moved her plant roots. However, the spiderkin stopped her with his hand and said in a cold voice.
“Stop this pointless provocation. There’re children in the village, right? I know you guys won’t abandon your children. Otherwise, you’d have resisted already.”
“……!”
Derby couldn’t respond to the words of the spiderkin, who kept his cool all this while. In other words, it was a fact that things were exactly as he said. Seeing Derby clench his teeth, the dryad smiled as if she had thought of something.
“Hey, sergeant. I’ve a good idea. Just one person will do. How about killing one as an example? How about it?”
“…Hostages must be kept alive for them to be meaningful. It’s foolish to kill them pointlessly.”
“You’re saying that again. Isn’t it just because you don’t want to do it? I’ll do it for you then.”
The dryad said casually as she reached out her branch. The branch caught a centaur child who was watching from the back. The other centaurs couldn’t even stop her as she retracted her branch and caught the restrained centaur child.
“I—caught—you!”
“Eek!”
“What are you doing?! Don’t lay your hands on the kids!”
“Please be at ease. This is the only time I’ll do it…provided you guys are honest with us.”
“…Despicable!”
Some of the young centaurs charged angrily at the dryad. However, the dryad’s arm turned into a whip and repelled the centaurs.
“Well, this time, you’re reaping what you sowed. Be sure to learn your lesson next time.”
The dryad concentrated wind arcane magic in her hands and tried to cut the centaur child. However, the spiderkin grabbed her hand and stopped her massacre.
“…Wait. What are you doing?”
“You’re too hasty in making a conclusion. The centaurs are certainly a threat right now, but even so, they are still fellow demihumans…If Sagittarius-sama cooperates with us sincerely, they would be our comrades. I can’t approve of reckless killing which could lead to future problems.”
“…Sergeant, you’re really sweet.”
The dryad and the spiderkin confronted each other and a tense atmosphere developed. Eventually, the dryad yielded, sighing as she looked away. Seeing this, the spiderkin relaxed as well.
“It can’t be helped. I don’t want to fight the sergeant. I’ll spare you this time—”
While saying this, the dryad extended the branch holding onto the centaur child towards the other centaurs. It seemed she was going to return the child to them. Everyone was relieved to see this, but in the moment when they relaxed, the dryad swung her branch high up into the sky along with the child.
“Uh, wah—?!”
“—Not! There’re so many hostages, so killing just one is fine! The sergeant’s method is so sweet that it makes me puke!”
The dryad laughed cruelly and swung the child down from the sky to the ground. If this continued, the child would crash to the ground. Nobody could react to the sudden development as everyone’s faces turned pale in the face of the impending tragedy. Sei and the others rushed out, but they couldn’t make it in time.
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On the other hand, Sei, Gants, Jean, and Kaineko had to join forces in order to bring the fight to the spiderkin. Even as they boldly attacked from all directions by taking advantage of their numbers and combinations, they were all guarded against by his arms. When he started to counterattack, Jean was sent flying into a tree.
“Hey, spider bastard! You seem different from the others, so let me give you some advice! Stop following that idiot Leon! Otherwise, all the demihumans will fall together with him!”
“I was wondering what you wanted to say. There simply isn’t any other way for us!”
“I see. Then you’ve chosen to follow the wrong boss!”
Gants’ battleaxe and the spiderkin’s arm collided, making sparks fly. Even so, the difference in level was a serious problem. Even though he had the characteristics of a bug, Gants was still pushed back despite using a battleaxe against his bare hands.
“Grr—oh!”
“Hah—!”
“Why am I the only one who has to fight these monsters?!”
Faced with Friedrich and the female knight, the dryad was running away with a desperate expression. Although she would win in terms of combat power, she had lost the will to fight because of their terrifying appearances. Moreover, magic was being directed her way from behind. As she wondered who it might be, she noticed a grasshopper monstrous humanoid using magic for some reason. Seeing this, the dryad came close to tears.
“No—?!”
The dryad ran away in tears. The tiger-centaur-moth and the gorilla-arachne pursued her, along with the grasshopper monstrous humanoid. It was now impossible to tell who were actually the hero’s companions. Sweat streaked down Sei’s cheek as he saw the scene before his eyes. This was definitely not a hallucination.
“An—Anyway! We’ll stop you!”
“Do it if you can! Human brat!”
Sei refocused his mind and readied his katana, while the spiderkin received his attack.
Then, the blade and the spiderkin’s arm collided.
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