Attack on the Duke’s Home
“Satou here. Video games are one thing, but I’ve never once had any desire to fight in a battle against other humans in the real world. Even now that I’m in a fantasy world with ridiculous powers, I still feel the same way.”
“They must be after the duke.”
Sir Juleburg took off his jacket as he shot Lady Helmina a signal with his eyes.
“Here you are, Sir Juleburg.”
“Thank you.”
Lady Helmina opened her Item Box, took out a spear, and handed it to Sir Juleburg; at the same time, she accepted his jacket with her other hand and put it into the Item Box.
They were as in sync as an old married couple.
“We will go protect the duke. Sir Pendragon, you bring this young lady to her room.”
“Understood.”
I patted the duke’s youngest daughter reassuringly on the shoulder.
If two of the Shiga Eight were heading to his side, the duke would surely be safe from harm.
“I—I want to go to Father, too!”
“No, it’s too dangerous. Besides, if you show up, your father’s guards will have to look after you, too.” Lady Helmina shouldered a long white gun as she admonished the little girl.
Hmm?
I heard a grating noise far in the distance.
“The royal capital air defense force’s horn?”
“Yes, and I hear the alarm bells from the watchmen in the tower, too.”
Sir Juleburg and Lady Helmina listened closely.
Just as I was starting to open my map, I saw a red light approaching at tremendous speed on my radar. At the same time, my “Sense Danger” skill reacted to something.
Looking up, I saw a monster swooping down toward us, carrying a sizable boulder.
“Get down!”
I covered Miss Somienna beneath me as I shouted a warning to the two Shiga Eight members.
The drone-beetle-like monster threw the boulder it was carrying.
Judging by its inertia, it was probably going to crash right into the main hall where the duke was.
The duke himself aside, any nearby maids and guests might get hurt, too.
I charged a bronze nail in my palm with magic power and produced a “Spellblade” spear.
“‘Pierce’—Blue Butterfly Gun!”
Before I could throw the spear, Lady Helmina steadied the long gun on her shoulder and pulled the trigger. She was pretty fast.
But even if the shot broke the boulder, the fragments would still be flying forward.
I quickly erased the now-pointless spear before anyone saw it and took my next move.
Using the psychokinesis-like spell Magic Hand, which I always had activated, I grabbed the biggest pieces and tried to slow them down.
Damn it.
There were too many fragments of the boulder for me to catch them all.
The first fragment hit the wall of the main building and shattered into dust and rubble.
As the second one hit, throwing up a cloud of dust that hid some of the bigger clumps, I put them all into Storage to minimize the damage.
I dealt with the other shards the same way, but I wasn’t able to prevent the damage completely.
Fortunately, as far as I could tell from my map, no one had died in the boulder attack.
Before the dust cleared, I dropped some of the rock pieces in front of the building.
“Let’s go, Helmina.”
“Yes, Sir Juleburg!”
As screams and cries arose from the mansion grounds, the two Shiga Eight Swordsmen sprang into action.
“Sir Juleburg, this way would be faster!”
“Lead the way!”
Instead of taking the main hallway, they took a shortcut past the mausoleum where the skeletons had appeared.
“There she is! The duke’s daughter!”
As the Shiga Eight pair left, a group of people in all black appeared through the dust cloud, their faces covered by cloth.
It was the assassins who’d been let in through a side entrance not long ago. There were three of them, all experienced fighters with levels in the high 20s.
“Eeeek!”
An unlucky maid who was passing by screamed when she saw the black-clad invaders.
“Kill any witnesses!”
One of the assassins threw a knife at the maid.
I’m not letting that happen.
I took out a pebble and flicked it to knock the knife away.
“Impossible!”
“He’s a strong one. Use demonic potions!”
Without hesitation, the men drank their potions and began emitting a dark-red aura.
The plunderers in the Celivera Labyrinth had used demonic potions, too; it made them incredibly tough, making it difficult to gauge how much to hold back.
“Fwa-ha-ha, this is the best.”
“Heh, we’re invincible now.”
“Don’t let your guards down! We’ll take him out with ‘Formation Blacksword.’”
“““Right!”””
The assassins seemed to be plotting some kind of synchronized attack, but that didn’t mean I had to go along with it.
I jumped in close, broke through the first man’s defense barrier with a palm strike, and knocked him down with a punch to the solar plexus. Then I knocked out the other two with kicks to the jaws.
“Th-the Black Assassin Band won’t go down that—”
The first guy I’d knocked down, evidently the leader, was still conscious, but I fixed that with another quick strike.
If I tied them up with wire or rope, they’d probably tear right through it when they woke up. I decided to use the Practical Magic spell Mana Drain to steal their magic; then I used a magic user–restraining item called “Anti-Magic Ivy” to tie them up.
“Now, then…”
I opened my map to assess the situation.
Judging by the movement of the dots, I could see that the soldiers and servants in the manor were running around in confusion. The explosive attack from that boulder must have thrown everything into chaos.
“Miss Somienna, we should go.”
I decided to bring her along to the duke after all.
Judging by what the assassins said, she was still a target, despite no longer having the Holy Chalice, and the duke was surrounded by knights to protect him and the chalice already.
Besides, that way I would probably meet back up with Sir Juleburg and Lady Helmina.
“Wait! I’m still worried about Father!”
I probably should have explained myself more clearly; Somienna seemed to have the wrong idea.
“I know, that’s why—”
“I found the duke’s daughter!”
My words were interrupted by another black-clad intruder appearing from Somienna’s window.
“—I’m going to take you to the duke.”
As I finished my statement to Miss Somienna, I took out this assassin in the same way as the others.
Then I tucked her under my arm and ran toward the main hall where the duke was located. As I limited my speed to a regular run, I also stealthily cast Enchant: Physical Protection and Enchant: Magic Protection for her safety.
“Battle noises?”
I could hear the sounds of weapons clashing in several areas of the mansion. The soldiers seemed to be fighting one another.
Since this attack was rooted in internal affairs, there must be some rebels among the soldiers.
It was impossible to tell who was on what side, so I ignored the fighting soldiers and kept heading toward the hall, taking a shortcut past the mausoleum.
There were piles of human bones nearby, likely the remains of skeleton monsters.
I also saw three bodies of knights in black and silver armor. It wasn’t just skeletons who’d invaded.
Hmm?
Amid the bones, I saw something shining.
It was a familiar brooch with an unusual design of eight swords forming a ring.
A sword-ring badge.
The proof of a Shiga Eight Swordsmen member, received from the king.
Sir Juleburg or Lady Helmina must have dropped it on their way past here.
“Uh-oh, wait a second.”
Just as I arrived in front of the door to the main hall, I saw some information on my radar and skidded to a halt.
A dark figure crashed through the wall right in front of us.
“Eeeek!”
Somienna screamed from under my arm.
It was a knight in black full-body armor, right down to the full-face helmet.
Peering through the newly made hole in the wall, I saw the two Shiga Eight members doing battle with rebels, along with the Scarlet Nobleman Baronet Jelil. The duke’s knights were protecting the duke, who was holding the Holy Chalice.
The ones fighting on the other side were knights, too.
Their armor and cloaks were also dyed black, perhaps to prevent friendly fire or to keep hidden while they were invading.
The knight who just crashed through the wall must have been one of the rebels, too.
It’s strange, though…
The movement of the black knights was impressive.
Their levels were only in the low to middle 30s, yet they were holding their own against the far more powerful Shiga Eight and Baronet Jelil.
As far as I could tell, they weren’t using demonic potion like the assassins from earlier.
But a dark-red light was leaking from their breastplates.
That was probably the secret to their strength. As far as I could tell from the AR, the black-clad knights’ armor was perfectly normal. They must be hiding some kind of Magic Item near their chests.
“Uuurgh…”
The black knight at my feet started to wake up, so I kicked her in the head to knock her out.
There was red light coming from her breastplate, too, but it flickered and faded when she was knocked unconscious.
So she was wearing the same equipment; I might as well figure out what it was, then.
“Sorry about this.”
I tried ripping off the breastplate, but there were no magic circuits or wiring on the back of it, and the chain mail and under armor she wore below it looked perfectly ordinary.
I used “Spellblade” on my fingertip to cut through those, too.
Geh…
A gruesome sight filled my vision, like a mechanical device had forcefully fused with flesh. It was so horrific that I barely even noticed the modest cleavage surrounding it.
“Eek!”
Peeking over my shoulder, little Somienna gave a shriek and hid behind me.
Yeah, this definitely wasn’t something kids should be seeing.
“I feel like I recognize this from somewhere…”
When my AR display showed the words Demonic Heart, I remembered where.
It was the unremovable cursed item that the terrorists on the airship were using.
I touched the eerily pulsating Demonic Heart and tried using “Mana Drain” to steal its power, but it immediately recharged from the wearer’s magic instead.
Damn.
For just a moment, one part of the Demonic Heart almost transformed into the tentacle-like objects we saw on the airship. If I drained its magic carelessly, there was a good chance it would go haywire.
I checked through the wall to see if I had time to keep investigating.
“Looks like they’re all right for now…”
They seemed to be busy with the swarm of black knights, but Lady Helmina was doing damage to them with her long-distance attacks. It didn’t seem like they needed my help.
Baronet Jelil was contributing, too, defeating black knights while working with Lady Helmina.
And of course it goes without saying that the leader of the Shiga Eight Swordsmen was dominating. The three of them had already knocked out over half the black knights.
Relieved, I turned back to investigating whether the Demonic Heart could be removed.
First, I used the Practical Magic spell See Through to inspect it, but…
They don’t call it “unremovable” for nothing.
Threadlike tentacles extended from the Demonic Heart, wrapping around the host’s heart, veins, and lungs.
If I tried to rip it out, the host would almost certainly die.
I might be able to use an elixir after ripping it out, for her to regenerate, but I didn’t want to put her life at risk when she didn’t currently seem to be in danger.
I covered the black knight’s chest with her cloak, then tied her up carefully and put her aside.
“We should get moving.”
Since there were now only two black knights remaining in the room, I decided to bring Miss Somienna over to the duke.
In one hand, I picked up the mithril sword lying at my feet near the unconscious black knight, and in my other hand I held Somienna’s hand as I entered the room.
“Sir Pendragon!”
Lady Helmina was the first to notice us entering the room, greeting me with a smile.
Judging by the sweat on her brow, it seemed like it had been a pretty intense battle.
I brought Miss Somienna over to the safe area where Duke Vistall was standing.
“Father!”
“Somienna!” the duke exclaimed.
His expression looked worried when he saw his daughter, then turned to rage as he laid eyes on me.
“You fool! Why would you bring my precious Somienna to such a dangerous place?!”
“Wait, Father! He brought me because I asked him to.”
Somienna covered for me as her father practically sprayed spit all over me.
I had assumed that the duke only cared about the Holy Chalice, but it appeared that he really did care for his daughter, too.
“Some intruders broke into Miss Somienna’s room. I judged that I could not protect her properly there, which is why I decided to bring her here.”
“Nnngh…”
The duke seemed reluctantly convinced by this.
“Still, where did all these rebels come from?” I asked Lady Helmina, who was stationed near the duke.
“They used the chaos from that rock bombing to sneak in through the same route as the skeletons.”
I see, so they snuck in behind all the red dots of the skeletons while I was dealing with the boulder… No wonder I didn’t notice.
…Hmm?
A few red dots on my radar were coming closer.
That wasn’t news to me, but now two of them were positioned directly in the hall already. I turned the map into 3D mode.
CRACK.
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up a faint sound.
“Above us! Lady Helmina!”
Two black-clad assassins broke through the glass window in the ceiling and dropped toward us.
“…… Air Hammer Kitsui!”
“…… Air Cushion Kiheki!”
The assassins used Wind Magic in midair.
“Spirit of the royal capital, defend me! Protection Field Shugo Kekkai!”
As the duke shouted, a transparent barrier like the Practical Magic spell Shelter formed. It must have been the power of the City Core.
The Protection Field blocked the Wind Magic easily, shielding the duke and his daughter.
Lady Helmina fired her Magic Gun, the shot ripping through the Air Cushion and hitting the two assassins in midair.
The two of them hit the Protection Field as they fell and landed opposite the duke.
“Whew. Spirit, thank you for your protection.”
At that, the Protection Field around him disappeared.
There must be some limit on it, since it would’ve made more sense to me to keep it up for safety.
“Thanks for the warning. You really—”
“It’s not over yet!”
The assassins’ health bars weren’t yet at zero.
They sprang up, clad in red auras as they charged toward the duke and Lady Helmina.
“No way—but the Magic Gun hit them dead-on!”
Lady Helmina pointed the Magic Gun toward them again, while the duke’s guardian knights crowded in front of him to form a wall.
While I was hesitating for a split second over who to back up, things kept moving.
One of the assassins slid beneath the legs of the guardian knights, while the other used a short High Wind chant to send something powdery toward Lady Helmina.
Lady Helmina immediately covered her eyes and mouth with one arm. She was always quick to react.
“Spirit of the royal capital, defend—”
The duke’s chant wasn’t going to make it in time.
I used “Blink” to jump in front of him, and I kicked away the black dagger that was plunging toward his chest, along with the assassin’s arm.
“Gaaaah!”
As the assassin rocked backward, the swords of the guards pierced his body, ending his life.
He unleashed a red spike as he fell, but I knocked it away with the side of the mithril sword in my hand.
When it made contact, the spike turned into a palm-sized ball of flame and exploded. It must have been some kind of assassination magic tool made with a fire stone.
“Hrmph, pathetic! You call yourselves knights of Vistall Duchy, yet you can’t even keep up with some paltry rebels?!”
Instead of thanking me for saving him, the duke scolded his subordinates.
I felt a little tug on my pants.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, it was nothing, really.”
I patted Miss Somienna’s head. She had much better manners than her father.
“Another intruder!”
“Jelil, stop him!”
I heard Sir Juleburg and Baronet Jelil shouting behind me.
“‘Evil Slasher’!”
Turning, I saw Baronet Jelil unleashing a slashing special attack against a massive man in black.
The giant assassin swung around an ax larger than himself and blocked Jelil’s special move head-on. The black ax shone with dark-red light, unleashing an attack seconds after Baronet Jelil’s.
“‘Burst Hacker’!”
There was a blinding flash, and a piercing metallic sound and the rumbling of the floor struck my ears.
Wasn’t that…
I had seen that move twice, both times in the royal capital.
My AR display revealed the giant’s identity.
But I didn’t need to read it to know.
It was…
“Don’t underestimate us mithril explorers!”
As he was pushed back, letting out a spray of blood, Baronet Jelil unleashed another speedy attack: the “One-Handed Sword” move “Evil Piercer.”
It didn’t reach the assassin’s body, but it did rip off the black cloth hiding his face.
“G-Gouen!”
Behind me, the duke exclaimed the giant’s name in alarm.
“What are you doing here?!”
“It can’t be…”
Sir Juleburg and Lady Helmina exclaimed in shock at their comrade’s appearance, too.
The giant man in black—Sir Gouen—charged in silence.
Lady Helmina’s Magic Gun fired several times to slow his charge, but he refused to stop.
The bullets grazed him, ripping his black overcoat and drawing blood, but he moved toward the duke with grim determination.
Dark-red light spilled from the holes in the overcoat.
It was the same light as those black knights had possessed.
Sir Gouen must have a Demonic Heart embedded in his chest like the others.
In my mind’s eye, I saw his smile when he showed me images of his wife and children.
Did he know that no one equipped with a Demonic Heart had ever lived longer than a half-moon…?
“Stop!”
As I was lost in such thoughts, Sir Juleburg’s shout brought me back to my senses.
Sir Juleburg jumped in front of Sir Gouen and unleashed a barrage of rapid-fire strikes.
“Tch…”
Even Sir Gouen couldn’t just ignore that; he blocked the strikes with his giant ax.
He didn’t use a special attack like before, though.
It would have created too big an opening.
Red “Spellblade” sparks lit the pair as their blades clashed again and again, swapping between offense and defense.
Sir Juleburg was slowly being overwhelmed.
It made sense. Even demonic potion enhanced the user’s power by almost 10 levels.
Demonic Hearts were even more effective than that.
And the two of them were nearly evenly matched to begin with. It was all but inevitable that the tide of battle would turn in Sir Gouen’s favor when he was enhanced with the Demonic Heart.
“The Ray Ring Armor!”
The light around Sir Juleburg’s body was fading.
His protective “Light Magic” defense barrier must be breaking under the strain of Sir Gouen’s onslaught of attacks.
Lady Helmina, who’d been supporting him with the Magic Gun, began the chant for Ray Ring Armor.
But without her supporting fire, Sir Juleburg was on the defensive.
Something’s wrong.
Although only slightly, Sir Juleburg’s movements were slowing down by a fraction every time he blocked one of Sir Gouen’s attacks.
“I’ll back you up.”
I’d been standing in front of the duke and his daughter as a last line of defense, but at this rate, Sir Juleburg was going to lose.
“Satou!”
Sir Gouen was the one to shout in surprise, while Sir Juleburg was breathing heavily.
He swung his giant ax to ward off my approach.
What was that?
When the ax came close to me, I felt a chill run up my spine.
I glanced at my log and saw the answer.
> Resisted “Mana Drain.”
> Resisted “Life Drain.”
Ah, now I remember.
That ax was the same cursed weapon I’d seen in the museum.
If I remembered correctly, the exhibit said that it stole the magic and stamina of anyone it cut.
In reality, it seemed like it had an effect even if it grazed near the target.
Judging by Sir Juleburg’s gauges in my AR display, a single swing didn’t amount to much, but it seemed to add up to a serious disadvantage over time in a closely matched battle.
I traded places with Sir Juleburg to stand in front of Sir Gouen.
“You sure you want to fight me that close?”
“I know all about that ax’s effects.”
Sir Gouen’s attacks were heavy.
Part of that was the nature of the giant ax, but with the added boost from the Demonic Heart, every one of them had as much force as a special move.
It wasn’t as bad as the black greater demon, but he certainly outclassed the demon-form Ludaman that I’d fought in Labyrinth City.
As we clashed for a while, Sir Gouen started making conversation.
“So you were hiding your true strength after all, eh?”
“No, I’ve just got more strength than usual right now because it’s a near-death situation.”
“Yeah, right!”
I realized from Sir Gouen’s footwork that he was trying to find a gap between the attacks from me and Sir Juleburg to try to lunge toward the duke.
“Damn, you’re tough.”
As Sir Gouen grumbled, Sir Juleburg’s spear plunged toward him from his blind spot.
Judging by the flash of swirling Spellblade, it must be the special move “Helix Spear Attack.”
“Tch…‘Burst Hacker’!”
Sir Gouen unleashed a special move of his own.
Unlike usual, it moved in a horizontal direction to keep me away; then he spun with the momentum to counter Sir Juleburg’s special attack.
As their two special attacks clashed, the shock waves tore up the expensive-looking carpet in a circle around them.
The guardian knights readied their shields to protect the duke from the shock waves.
Hmm?
There was another red dot on my radar.
As I held Sir Gouen off and glanced to the side, I saw a transparent black knight sneaking up behind the duke and company.
From the look of it, he must have been using a “Light Magic” illusion or a transparency cloak.
“Lady Helmina! There’s an attacker behind you!”
I pulled out a stiletto throwing knife and tossed it at the traitor.
The black knight jumped back, revealing himself in the process.
He held a familiar yellow spear.
“Jagou! You too?!”
Lady Helmina cried out in despair, even as she pointed her gun toward him.
“I am not that noble knight Sir Jagou! I am—”
Before he could finish his foolish attempt at a diversion, Lady Helmina’s bullet flew toward him.
“Not a chance!” He jumped back with “Blink” to dodge the bullet and ran toward Lady Helmina.
He definitely wasn’t moving like the guy who’d gotten thoroughly trounced by Liza and me.
“Don’t get distracted!”
Sir Juleburg came flying toward me, looking bloodied.
Beyond him stood Sir Gouen, who was getting ready to use “Burst Hacker.”
I didn’t have any choice. If I dodged Sir Juleburg, then Sir Gouen’s special attack would cut him in two before I could move to counter it.
I caught Sir Juleburg and let the impact send me flying into the wall behind me.
“I figured you’d do that!”
Sir Gouen used “Blink” and unleashed the special attack, sending it toward Sir Juleburg’s back.
Good, exactly like I thought.
I twisted myself around to switch places with Sir Juleburg in midair, then spun around with my mithril sword to block the “Burst Hacker.”
There was a loud clang, and the mithril sword I’d picked up broke in the middle, scattering with a flash of red light.
I guess it was a bit too much to try to block Sir Gouen’s special attack with his massive sword head-on using only an ordinary mithril sword with a faint amount of Spellblade.
The ax kept coming toward me after breaking the sword, but its momentum had slowed. I used “Magic Power Armor” on my knee to kick the ax away, successfully avoiding the special attack.
Sir Gouen dashed past Sir Juleburg, and I dashed toward the duke.
I released Sir Juleburg to land on the floor faceup, twisted myself around right before landing, and kicked off the floor to chase after him.
“I won’t let you do that, Pendragon!”
The knight with the yellow spear stood in my way.
Across the room, I saw Lady Helmina pointing her Magic Gun at Sir Gouen, even as blood dripped from her forehead.
Picking up an iron sword from the floor, I fought off Jagou.
“Stay out of our way!”
Enhanced with the Demonic Heart, the knight was now powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the Shiga Eight, but he didn’t stand a chance against me when I wasn’t worried about holding back.
I sent him flying with a single blow, and he bounced off the walls of the spacious hall several times.
Then I turned back, only to see Sir Gouen avoiding Lady Helmina’s shots and cutting her down.
Fortunately, she used the Magic Gun as a shield to avoid any fatal wounds, but her shoulder was red with blood as she went flying past the duke and his daughter, who she’d been shielding behind her.
The knights guarding the duke were still clustered together, but there was no way they’d be able to stop someone who even the Shiga Eight members couldn’t defeat.
They were knocked aside in a matter of seconds.
The duke was once again protected by the City Core barrier.
“‘Burst Hacker’!”
Sir Gouen’s point-blank special attack broke through the Protection Field in one fell swoop.
Red light scattered along with the pale shards of the transparent barrier.
If I moved now, while he was standing still, I could make it.
“DON’T INTERFEEEEERE!”
Just as I was about to use “Blink,” the now-bloodied knight with the yellow spear jumped in front of me again.
I guess Demonic Heart users are even tougher to take down than demonic potion users.
I used even more strength than before to punch the knight aside. The sickening feeling against my fist made me worry that I’d killed him, but he was still alive.
“N-no…stoppp!”
As Sir Gouen closed in on him, the duke screamed for mercy and flung out his hands.
“Please forgive my disloyalty.”
Sir Gouen brought down his giant ax toward the duke.
But then it stopped before reaching him.
“Please don’t kill Father!”
Somienna had jumped in front of the duke, her arms spread wide.
The giant ax was stopped right in front of her nose.
“I’m sorry.”
Grimacing, Sir Gouen pushed Somienna aside, and brought his ax toward the duke’s despairing face—
“…You again, Satou?”
Sir Gouen glared at me, the sword in my hands stopping his ax from reaching its target.
Then there was a blaze of red light.
It was Sir Juleburg’s “Spellblade Shot.”
“He always does the most insane things…”
Sir Gouen shook his head, his ax deflecting the “Spellblade Shot” as he looked at Sir Juleburg.
That attack seemed to have used up the last of his strength. Sir Juleburg was lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood.
“What now, Satou? You gonna fight me without any help from Sir Juleburg or Lady Helmina?”
“Hmm, I wonder…”
My plan thus far had been to support the Shiga Eight members and have them get Sir Gouen under control, but now that they were both out of commission, that wasn’t going to work.
Still, if I defeated a Shiga Eight member one-on-one while he was boosted with a Demonic Heart, I would definitely end up getting dragged into becoming a member myself.
“I don’t particularly owe the duke anything…”
I glanced at him sideways as a bit of revenge for earlier.
Of course, I wouldn’t really abandon him, if only for Somienna’s sake.
“Wh-what are you saying?! If you protect me from Gouen, all the wealth and power you could dream of will be yours! Defeat Gouen for me!”
The duke took me seriously and started getting desperate.
I wished he would put that Protection Field back up already, but he wasn’t making any move to do so after seeing Sir Gouen destroy it right in front of him so easily.
Come to think of it, if he could use the City Core’s powers even in the royal capital, why couldn’t he just teleport away?
Maybe those powers were limited outside of his territory.
“You heard the man. But without your own weapon, I doubt you can keep up with my ax using only an iron sword.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
I held the iron sword at the ready.
The sword I’d picked up off the floor at random looked fancy at a glance but was actually quite dull; after blocking just one attack from the ax, the blade had blinked halfway down.
I used “Spellblade” on the sword.
“‘Spellblade’ on an iron sword? You’re still full of surprises.”
“I do have some confidence in my magic control.”
My plan was to draw him away from the duke, toss some magic potions to the heavily injured Shiga Eight pair and Baronet Jelil to heal them, duck out once they were back in battle, and return as Nanashi the Hero to finish things off.
“At any rate, if you’ve caught your breath, shall we continue?”
“You caught me, huh? Fine, let’s go!”
Sir Gouen charged with the force of a raging bull.
After we exchanged blows a few more times, I realized something bad.
Since “Spellblade” wouldn’t stick to the iron sword for long, it was going to break before too soon.
It probably wasn’t just because of the iron sword that my “Spellblade” was getting dispelled so easily, either. The powers of Sir Gouen’s giant ax probably had something to do with the failure, too. What an annoying weapon.
The ax swung toward my neck; I ducked to avoid it, picked up another sword from the floor, and swung it up at him.
Uh-oh. I messed up.
Blood spurted from two wrists that now ended in stumps.
The slashed-off hands went flying behind me, along with the giant ax.
“So, you let the sword get broken on purpose… You’re good, Satou.”
Having lost both his hands, Sir Gouen jumped away from me.
I hate to admit it, but that was just a coincidence. Sorry.
“Well, that’s that.”
Sir Gouen tilted back his head and sighed in defeat.
Hopefully he would surrender now.
“ Flash Gravel Senreki.”
I thought he was doing a chant for Healing Magic, but instead he unleashed a flash of light toward the ceiling.
“Is that the signal to withdraw?” I asked Sir Gouen as I distributed magic potions to Sir Juleburg, Lady Helmina, and Baronet Jelil.
The assassins and black knights were already wiped out, but there were still a fair amount of soldiers fighting among themselves.
“No, it’s a funeral signal.”
Well, I don’t like the sound of that.
I checked the map to make sure they weren’t going to switch to a suicide-bomb approach, but I didn’t see anyone carrying such things.
“Urk…”
With a gurgling cough, Sir Gouen spat up blood.
A moment later, the leather armor around his chest cracked open, and thin dark-gray tentacles burst out and twined around his entire body before I could do anything.
“Wha…?!”
As I was frozen in shock at the sci-fi-esque development, the surfaces of the tentacles fused together to form a dark-gray full-body armor.
A disturbing second face formed from his forehead to the right side of his temple.
Tentacles stretched from his wrists to recover the giant ax. They formed a sort of tentacle gauntlet, gripping the ax with artificial fingers.
“SorRY, Satou. I’m borrowing the poWER of the magic FLUTE.”
As he spoke, the mouth area of his helmet and that of the newly formed face on the side of his head moved like living things.
The Demonic Heart had gone into rampage mode. I wasn’t sure why it was a different effect from the wildly flailing tentacles I saw on the airship, though.
He said something about a “magic flute,” but he didn’t have any item like that, and my “Keen Hearing” skill wasn’t detecting any flute-like noise.
“I hear a flute, sir.”
I saw Pochi and Tama in the back of my mind.
That was right before those tentacles appeared on the airship.
“Arisa—”
I used the Space Magic spell Telephone to call Arisa.
“Hellooo, you’ve reached your darling sweetheart, Arisa…”
“Can you bring Pochi and Tama to Duke Vistall’s mansion?”
“Okey-dokey, I’m on—”
“PendragOOOOOOON!”
A strange bellow interrupted Arisa’s words.
It was the yellow-spear knight Jagou, even though I’d taken him down earlier. He was charging at me with gray tentacle armor like Sir Gouen’s.
He was moving incredibly fast. Even using “Blink” with the support of the “Body Strengthening” skill wouldn’t produce that kind of speed.
I parried his spear with my sword and used my other hand to punch the knight’s helmeted head.
It was only then that I realized a new face had formed on his head, too.
“Damn YOU!”
That attack would normally knock someone out, but he withstood it and struck again.
He was even tougher than an average Demonic Heart user.
His attacks were strong, too, so much so that I doubted any other human in the area except for me could have withstood them.
Fortunately, the people who were completely unconscious didn’t go into rampage mode—of all the Demonic Heart holders in the area, it was only Sir Gouen and Sir Jagou who were now in tentacle armor.
“JaGOU! Keep Satou BUSY!”
“Keep him BUSY? Don’t make me LAUGH! I’m all-powerful right NOW. PendraGON, stop right THERE!”
Shoot.
Having pulled out a scroll, I quickly cast an Implosion spell between Sir Gouen and the duke.
That should keep Sir Gouen busy for at least a good ten seconds.
I pretended to have been hit by the knight’s attack, and I let myself slam into the wall on the garden side, tumbling out of the room with the crumbling wall.
“There you ARE, PendraGON!”
The knight went over to the unconscious Sir Pendragon’s body on the ground and stabbed him repeatedly with the yellow spear.
“Ha-ha-ha-HA, what’s wrong, PendraGON? Put up a FIGHT!”
The crazed knight continued stabbing the unmoving body maniacally, even as a pool of blood spread around it.
Obviously, that wasn’t actually me he was stabbing—it was a demi-goblin knight’s corpse with an illusion cast over it.
I’d better move before he figures it out.
Hiding myself with a transparency cloak, I used the “Quick Change” skill to transform into Nanashi the Hero.
“How long are you going to keep that up?”
I used “Warp” to sneak up behind the yellow-spear knight and grabbed his arm and collar.
“Wh-WHO are—”
Without giving him the chance to turn around and finish his demand, I used “Flashrunning” to move up to the ceiling of the hall in an instant.
Meanwhile, Sir Gouen had rushed through the blast of Implosion and arrived in front of the duke.
I let go of Sir Jagou above the hole in the ceiling and used “Flashrunning” again to land in front of Sir Gouen.
“Grrr—who are YOU?!”
“Nanashi the Hero.”
Keeping my response short, I produced the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis from Storage and knocked his giant hammer away.
Combat was definitely a lot easier with a weapon I was used to wielding.
“Nanashi the HERO? The one who beat the Boar LORD and DogHEAD?”
I simply nodded.
The knight falling from the ceiling hit the floor and stayed stuck.
“Surrender,” I advised Sir Gouen as I watched this from the corner of my eye.
“Sorry, but I CAN’T.”
“Why not?”
That’s what I wanted to know.
“I can’t say why, EITHER. Then there’d be no point in turning against my lord in the first PLACE.”
His wife and children in his hometown were probably being held hostage to keep him quiet, then.
“I see.”
“Glad you’re so quick on the uptake.”
DEEEEEAMONZHEAAAAAART.
The second face let out a grating howl, and black fog formed around Sir Gouen’s tentacle armor.
According to my AR display, it had the same effect as Sir Gouen’s ax.
“Let’s see how well this heretical power works against a HERO.”
“Fine.” I nodded.
“RAAAAH!”
As he attacked, I stood still and deflected the barrage with only one hand.
I wasn’t mocking him, but rather trying to show him the difference in our strength so he would back down.
“‘Burst Hacker’!”
His barrage shifted into a special attack, slashing up from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.
From his perspective, I slid right through the red arc that his special attack traced in the air.
“What THE—?!”
“‘Warp.’”
I gave a one-word explanation of how I’d avoided the attack.
Unlike “Blink,” it could be used without any other movement, making it difficult to perceive for someone who had never seen it before.
“Master, we’re here.”
The dots on my radar indicated that Arisa and the others had appeared near the mansion.
“Things are getting crazy in there, huh?”
“Have Pochi and Tama chase down the source of the flute sound, please. If possible, confiscate the flute or destroy it.”
“Okey-dokey.”
If I didn’t stop the magic flute that was putting Sir Gouen’s and the knight’s Demonic Hearts into rampage mode, the other Demonic Heart users would transform into tentacle armor, too.
That was why I called in help from Arisa, Tama, and Pochi.
“I’ll leave Tactical Talk connected so we can communicate. And I put both of them in recognition-inhibiting ninja outfits, so there’s no fear of them being identified.”
It was great to have someone as dependable as Arisa always thinking of even the finer details.
“Give up?”
“Not YET!”
DEEEEEAMONZHEAAAART.
The second face on Sir Gouen’s helmet howled again, and the fog around his tentacle armor all gathered at the giant ax.
The ax began to transform with a creaking sound.
“Wow, a second form?”
“Looks like IT. I’ve never seen this, EITHER.”
So even Sir Gouen didn’t know about it?
My AR display showed that its attack power and sharpness had more than doubled.
“Hope you don’t mind if I struggle to the very END.”
As the ax emitted an umbral glow, Sir Gouen launched a series of attacks that abandoned defense entirely.
With the effects of “Foresight: One-on-One Battle” and other skills, it was easy for me to dodge, but normally this would’ve been quite a tough battle.
“‘Burst Hurricane’!”
The special move began in the same way as his usual “Burst Hacker,” but shifted forms partway through, changing rapidly from a sideways strike to vertical to diagonal.
As a bonus, the ax even transformed partway through the move and changed its length.
I used “Magic Power Armor” to shield myself and a combination of “Gap Defense” and “Warp” to get through Sir Gouen’s special attack.
Even so, the floor we were standing on was all but destroyed in the process.
“PendragooOOOOON!”
Cloaked in a black aura, the yellow-spear knight unleashed a “Helix Spear Attack” toward me.
For a second, I was worried that he’d figured out my identity, but then I saw the crazed look in his eyes and realized that he couldn’t tell who he was fighting anymore.
But I couldn’t let Sir Gouen kill the duke while I was dealing with this guy.
It was a little violent, but I decided to cut off his arms and legs.
While he was in the air, I put his yellow spear and now-detached limbs in Storage, using Magic Hand.
I’ll stick them back on with an advanced magic potion later, so just hang in there for a bit.
In the meantime, I closed his wounds with lesser Healing Magic so he wouldn’t die of blood loss.
“H-help me! Hero!”
I heard the duke scream behind me.
Just as I’d feared, Sir Gouen had used the few seconds it took me to dispense with the knight to attack the duke again.
Luckily, the duke had put the Protection Field back up, but that didn’t mean I could leave him alone.
I used “Warp” to get in front of the duke, cut off Sir Gouen’s tentacle hands, and kicked him in the chest as hard as I could.
At the same time, I touched the giant ax with Magic Hand and put it away in Storage, and I blasted the tentacles writhing on the ground with “Spellblade Shot.”
“PendragoooOOOOOOON!”
Using appendages grown from his tentacle armor, the yellow-spear knight was crawling toward me, dragging himself along the ground.
He seemed to have used too many tentacles to form the limbs: The tentacle helmet was gone, leaving his face exposed. It was a disturbing sight.
Then two blasts of light hit the knight in the head, making it burst apart like a watermelon.
“Looks like Sir Juleburg and Helmina are BACK…”
Sure enough, it was Sir Juleburg’s “Spellblade Shot” and Lady Helmina’s Magic Gun that had finished off the yellow-spear knight.
“ Flash Gravel Senreki.”
Sir Gouen’s spell created pebbles of light.
Danger.
Trusting my skill’s alarm bells, I jumped forward to stop whatever he was about to do.
But by the time I jumped, it was already too late.
His tentacle hand was reaching for the forehead of his armor.
And it was holding a long, red horn—the cursed object that could turn humans into demons.
The tentacle armor around Sir Gouen’s body began to pulsate and swell, growing larger.
“We found the flute persooon…?”
“It’s no good, sir. They won’t give us the flute, sir.”
“As long as they can’t play it, it’s fine. Use some sleeping powder.”
While I responded to Tama and Pochi, I used Magic Hand to move those who were injured or unable to battle out of the hall.
“Arisa, get the people I just sent out to safety, please.”
“Okey-dokey!”
I left the guardian knights to evacuate the duke and his daughter, who could walk on their own, and asked Arisa to support all of them.
“Let us help.”
“I’ll back you up, if it’s all right.”
I shook my head at Sir Juleburg and Lady Helmina.
“No thanks. Instead…” I pointed at the duke and the others who were trying to leave the hall. “Help them.”
Sir Juleburg looked a bit reluctant, but Lady Helmina agreed immediately, and they both ran off.
“DEEEEAMONZ…”
Transformed into a demon, Sir Gouen howled up at the ceiling.
He didn’t even seem to be Gouen anymore: His name had disappeared from the AR display, and his race had changed to Demon. His level had also gone up from 51 to 60.
I thought that long horns turned people into only intermediate demons, but since Gouen’s original level was already so high, he was on a par with a greater demon.
His body had also become larger—he was now twenty feet tall, nearly three times his height from before.
The armor-like surface around him had turned into something like a living thing, and the area that had been covered by the helmet became an inflamed face. There was a faint trace of Gouen’s facial features that still remained.
For some reason, the second face that had been on his helmet was gone now.
“We’ve got the magic flute. Pochi and Tama are tying up the unconscious rebels and evacuating the injured and civilians.”
“Tie, tie, tie ’em up…?”
“Pochi is a pro at guiding, sir.”
They seemed to have things under control.
“THE DUKE…GOT AWAY, HRRRUH?”
Finishing his howl, Gouen looked down at me.
He appeared to have retained self-awareness, even after turning into a demon.
“You wanted to kill him so badly you were willing to become a demon?”
“THAT’S…RIGHT. I HAD…NO OTHERRR CHOICE.”
Gouen responded in broken speech, occasionally interrupted by strange noises. It was difficult to understand.
I guess it was the only way he could save his wife and children…
“I can go save them if you want. Would that help?”
“I CAN’T…TAKE THWAT RISK.”
A risk, huh?
I guess that was a natural response, since he didn’t know my full strength.
“THIS BODY…WILL LAST…EVEN SHORTER…NRRROW.”
There were no examples of anyone surviving more than half a month after equipping a Demonic Heart, the prime minister had said.
Gouen must have known that and chosen his wife’s and children’s lives over his own.
“LET’S…RRRR…GOOOO!”
Gouen’s hand transformed to create a writhing, semi-alive giant ax.
A single swing destroyed the floor of the hall, and the shock waves blew away the walls.
I protected myself from the shock waves and rubble with the “Flexible Shield” skill multiplied by six, then used “Skyrunning” to put myself right in front of him to keep his focus on me.
This form was far more powerful than the tentacle armor, on a par with even the black greater demon. I used Claidheamh Soluis and “Flexible Shield” to deflect the powerful attacks.
The demonified Gouen’s ax destroyed one “Flexible Shield” within three to five strikes. That was two or three times stronger than the Evil Dragon in the labyrinth.
But no matter how strong the attack, it didn’t matter if it couldn’t hit me.
I made full use of “Flashrunning,” “Warp,” “Gap Defense,” “Evasion,” and other such skills to keep leading Gouen around by the nose.
I had several chances to defeat him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it: I kept remembering the image of him smiling as he showed me pictures of his family.
“WHAT’S THE MATTERRRR, HERO?!”
DEEEEEAMONZHEAAAART.
Gouen howled and unleashed a black beam-like breath attack from his throat.
It sliced through one of the towers of the duke’s manor diagonally and even destroyed another noble’s mansion next door.
“If I keep dragging this fight out, I guess there’ll only be more casualties…”
I steeled myself and charged toward Gouen.
“FINALLY UP FORRR A FIGHT, EH?! ‘BURST HACKER’!”
As the giant ax swung down from nearly thirty feet overhead, I blocked it with Claidheamh Soluis, fully loaded and enlarged with magic power.
The ax was sliced clean in half, spilling black blood everywhere, like a living creature.
I swung my blade back to slice from the shoulder toward the heart—
But as I hesitated for a moment, Gouen took that chance to knock me away with his massive arm.
Oh no.
Gouen flew past the broken wall and fired another black beam.
I couldn’t see them, but the dots on my radar told me that the duke and company were in the area where he’d shot.
I used “Flashrunning” to go to their rescue—
“I won’t let you, I declare.”
As I sprang past the wall, I saw a knight in golden armor protecting the duke and the others from the black beam. It was Nana.
“Violence against larvae is strictly forbidden, I inform.”
“OUT OF MRRRRY WAY!”
Gouen charged forward, and Nana activated her defense mode Fortress to stop him.
The voice changer I’d recently installed in the golden armor would help disguise Nana’s voice, but her distinctive way of speaking would probably give her away immediately to anyone who knew her.
“RNNNGH!”
The tentacles growing from his right wrist tried to slither around Nana’s defenses to attack the duke, but they were all shot down by a blue light from afar.
Lulu.
She was shooting from atop a nearby aqueduct.
“Sorry if I overstepped, Master.” Arisa apologized over Tactical Talk. “I brought the others just in case.”
“Don’t be sorry. I appreciate it.”
I had nearly let the duke and his daughter die because of my hesitation.
“Pseudo-spirit?”
“Sorry, Mia. If you use a pseudo-spirit, we’ll be found out for sure.”
“Mrr.”
Mia appeared to be positioned next to Lulu.
“‘BURST HURRICANE’!”
Turning his arm back into an ax, Gouen used his special attack as a diversion to try to get past Nana.
Just then, a flash of red light shot toward him like a bullet.
“‘Draco Buster’!”
It’s Liza.
The two special moves clashed, unleashing a blinding flash of scarlet and dark-crimson light.
As their weapons locked for a moment, Liza’s dragon spear came out on top, breaking Gouen’s ax and sending the two of them flying to the other side of the garden.
“I’ll take care of things here. Hurry up and get them out.”
Sir Juleburg was readying his spear to join the battle, but I stopped him and went after Liza myself. Sir Juleburg hesitated for a moment, but luckily he prioritized the safety of the duke’s family.
“DAMNED SERVANT OF THE HERO!”
Once I caught up to them, I saw Gouen driving Liza back with more black beams.
I leaped out in front of Gouen, and we engaged in another close-combat battle.
“Thanks, Liza. I’ll take it from here.” I spoke to her through Tactical Talk.
“Master, forgive my presumption, but please let me deal the finishing blow.”
She must have seen my spineless moment earlier.
“It is my role as a slave to dirty my hands in place of my master.”
Liza looked at me seriously.
“No. That’s not right.”
As a guardian, it would be wrong to make one of my charges do something I didn’t want to do myself.
“But, master…”
“Aaand cut!” Arisa interrupted. “This conversation is getting nowhere.”
“Yes, Arisa. We should seek a way to disable him without destroying him, I propose.”
“Mm. New approach.”
“Spinny spiiin…”
“Turn it around, sir!”
The rest of the group chimed in one by one.
I guess I must have worried all of them.
“Couldn’t you break the horn, or get rid of the…what’s it called, a Demonic Heart? The thing that turned him into a tentacle person?”
“Master, if the tentacles go into rampage mode like on the airship, would that knock him out?”
Arisa’s words must have given Lulu the idea.
“No, it was already in rampage mode before he turned into a demon.”
“What’s different from the time on the airship, I wonder?”
“Sound,” Mia answered.
“Sound?”
“Mm. Wind sound. Breaks the rhythm.”
Sound.
The sound of the wind.
The magic flute sound that I couldn’t hear.
“Wait, that’s it! Tama, Pochi, the flute from before!”
The magic flute that had put them into rampage mode was the key.
“WHAT, YOUR HEARRRRT’S NOT IN IT?!”
My vision suddenly swam, and I was thrown into some bushes.
I was so focused on the conversation that I missed my chance to dodge Gouen’s attack.
It was fairly painful. Glancing at the HP gauge from the corner of my eye, I saw that I’d taken a few points of damage, although my “Auto-Recovery” skill fully healed me even as I watched.
Still, I don’t like pain. I had better focus.
“Fluuute…”
“We brought it, sir!”
Tama and Pochi were in the bushes in their ninja outfits.
They were watching the battle from there, since they didn’t have their golden armor on.
I thanked them and took the flute, then went back to the battlefield where Liza was holding Gouen off.
“Liza, hang in there a little longer. Lulu, Arisa, back her up.”
“Understood!”
“Yes, sir! I’m on it!”
“Okey-dokey, your dear Arisa can handle the worst attacks.”
Nodding at the dependable responses, I brought the flute to my mouth.
I didn’t know how to play it to activate rampage mode, so I tried imitating the melody that the duke’s wife had played on it before.
I still couldn’t hear the sound of the flute.
“THE MAGIC FLUTE? HOW DO YRRRROU HAVE THAT?!”
“Meeew…”
“Waaah, sir.”
I understood why Gouen was alarmed, but for some reason Tama and Pochi were covering their ears and flailing around under the bushes.
As I continued my performance despite my lack of musical sense, Gouen started bellowing.
“UORRRRROWOOOOORRRRRRR!”
DEEEEAMONZHEAAART.
His skin began to pulsate, part of it starting to rip away like a bandage coming off.
Huh?
For just a second, underneath the dull gray exterior, I caught a glimpse of brown skin.
Then my AR display showed something promising. The name “Gouen” overlapped with the empty name field in the information it showed next to him.
I remembered something else the prime minister had said.
A Demonic Heart “contains the crystalized heart of a demon.”
If rampage mode was activated by freeing the “crystallized heart of a demon” from its shackles…
Then could it be that this demon wasn’t Gouen himself, but the living creature called a Demonic Heart that had transformed from armor into a demon using the power of the long horn?
Its mind had certainly still been that of Gouen.
There was a possibility that Gouen himself had been turned into a demon, too, by his connection to the Demonic Heart.
But still…
“It’s worth a shot!”
I used the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis to slice off Gouen’s hands and feet.
The hands immediately turned back into tentacles, slithering toward me like snakes.
“Master, I’ll take care of them.”
“Perfect, thank you!”
I left Liza in charge of destroying the dark-gray tentacles.
“GRRROWORRRR!”
DZZZEAMONZ.
Ignoring his howl, I pinned Gouen to the ground.
Using Magic Hand to operate the magic flute, I used the “Holy Light Armor” skill on both of my now empty hands, surrounding them with bluish light.
This was the same skill I’d once used to attack the green demon’s real body through its doppelgänger.
Please, let this work.
With a silent prayer, I drove my palm into the area of his heart.
“UOOOOOOWWROOOOOWRRR!”
DEEEEAMONZHEAAAART.
Another wail and another howl.
Blue light spread across the gray surface, peeling the tentacles away from his body.
But that only lasted for a moment before they tried to return.
I don’t think so!
Wincing at the sensation of flesh caving in under my fingers, I dug the Demonic Heart out of Gouen’s chest.
“Arisa!”
“Got it!”
In perfect harmony with me, Arisa teleported Gouen’s body to a nearby meadow.
Arisa never failed to impress me. Even without any prior discussion, she perfectly understood what I needed her to do.
“Liza, if you could.”
“Right away, sir!”
As the Demonic Heart began to take human form on its own, I asked Liza to deal with it, since she’d already defeated the tentacles.
I used “Warp” to teleport over to Gouen, who was lying with a gaping hole in his chest.
“Hrggh…”
The shadow of death was over Gouen’s face as he coughed up blood.
I won’t let him die.
For his wife and children’s sakes, too.
I took out a lesser elixir from Storage and poured it over his chest, where his heart had been.
In the blink of an eye, his heart re-formed, and his tattered lungs began to recover.
Gouen should be safe now.
“Master—”
Hearing Liza’s voice, I turned and saw that the Demonic Heart had failed to complete a human form and was trying to send its tentacles to grasp Liza instead.
It appeared to be unable to function as a demon without a human to serve as a core.
“It’s like a parasite.”
“Seriously.”
Nodding in agreement with Arisa, I used “Warp” to go back to Liza’s side.
“Thanks, Liza. I’ll take it from here.”
The Demonic Heart jumped forward to try to absorb me.
Right before it hit, I covered my body in the “Holy Light Armor” skill.
DZZZZEAMONZ.
I grabbed the Demonic Heart before it could get away.
Still holding on to it, I activated a spell between my hands.
Forge.
It was the same intermediate Fire Magic spell that had once burned away even the Golden Boar Lord beneath the old capital.
DZZzz.
Even transformed into a demon by a long horn, the Demonic Heart couldn’t withstand the flames that had once vaporized a demon lord. It was burned away in an instant, turned into black smog and gray ash, and it disappeared.
“Master, the Shiga Eight pair took care of the tentacles over here,” Arisa reported.
My magic flute performance must have accidentally activated the Demonic Heart in the female black knight who’d been lying in the hall.
“Gouen!”
Lady Helmina cried out as I returned with the weakened Sir Gouen on my back.
Arisa had already gotten the rest of my group away with Space Magic.
“Is he alive?”
“Yep. He probably can’t move, though.”
As I responded to Sir Juleburg, I laid Sir Gouen down on the floor.
“He’s alive, you say?!” The duke, who’d been slumped on the floor, jumped up with rage. “Kill him, then! Death alone would be too light a sentence for a heretical fool who turned against his lord and used some horrible, cursed object! His entire clan should be executed for treason!”
The duke was practically frothing at the mouth with fury.
“Your Excellency, please deal with me however you see fit.” Sir Gouen raised his head pleadingly. “But I beg you, please spare my family and your son…”
I wasn’t quite sure why he would prioritize sparing the life of the duke’s son, who started the rebellion, over the lives of his own wife and children.
“Preposterous! Rebelling against your lord is an unforgivable sin!”
“Father, please! Don’t kill Gouen and my dear big brother!”
Somienna latched on to her father tearfully.
“B-but I must. Somienna, I must…” The duke’s sharpness wavered in the face of his beloved youngest daughter’s plea.
“I entreat you, too. Don’t execute anyone—”
I wanted to avoid a future where Sir Gouen’s wife and daughters couldn’t see him anymore.
He might still end up imprisoned or enslaved for life for his crimes, but that was better than death.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Oh, didn’t I mention? I’m Nanashi the Hero of the Shiga Kingdom.”
Did I forget to introduce myself to the duke?
“Nanashi the Hero?! Then you’re the ancestral king Ya—”
“No, I’m not.”
I cut him off flatly before he could finish saying something stupid. He must have heard that from the king or the prime minister.
“I did save your life. Can’t you do me this favor?”
“Grrr, I suppose I must comply… I shall agree not to kill Gouen, then. But I’m afraid I cannot promise the life of Torriel after he incited rebellion against the Shiga Kingdom.”
It was weird to hear the duke suddenly being so polite.
“But, Father…”
“Somienna, this is the law of the kingdom.”
If it was a legal matter, maybe I shouldn’t get involved any further.
“Fine. But try to think of a way to punish your oldest son while sparing his life.”
“Very well.”
I was surprised that he agreed.
“Oh, Father, thank you!”
Somienna flung her arms around the duke.
Without letting go of him, she turned back and added, “Thanks to you, too, Mr. Hero!” with a big smile.
I used the High Wind spell to kick up a whirlwind, and then I had Arisa teleport me to a hidden area with Space Magic while they were distracted.
Hiding myself with a transparency cloak, I went back to the area where Satou had last been seen.
On the way, I used Magic Hand to rescue the people who’d been trapped under the rubble.
Then I positioned myself under some rubble, too, waited for Lady Helmina to come looking for me, and pretended to push my way free. Hopefully this would prevent anyone from suspecting that Nanashi the Hero and I were one and the same.
For some reason, when Lady Helmina saw me, her eyes widened. “No wonder they call you Pendragon the Untouchable.”
In all the commotion, I’d forgotten to make myself look injured.
“Well, that is my only redeeming quality.”
“Hee-hee. Surely there must be something else, right?”
Lady Helmina winked suggestively.
Somehow, it seemed a little forced.
“Oh, all right. I’ll treat you to some drinks and cooking sometime soon.”
“Thank you, Sir Pendragon.”
I’ll have to make it a good feast to cheer her up, since she’s putting on such a brave front.
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