Sevens (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 74

Chapter 74 – The Respective Battlefields
──The next day.

Lionel was accosting Aria.

「Can I take a bit of your time?」

They were in the middle of a break.

Aria was wiping her sweat with a towel.

「I don’t mind but, is there any problem?」

「No, it’s not anything like that. How should I say it……I’m wondering, why are you following someone like Lyle?」

Aria was tilting her head towards Lionel’s question.

「Lyle is the leader. So of course I’ll follow his instruction.」

「Tha, that’s not what I mean.」

Aria didn’t get what Lionel wanted to say. Because of that, Lionel asked bluntly.

「I mean, why did you become that guy’s comrade? No matter how you look that guy is a no good person isn’t it? He is gathering women around him, then he said that he wants high position and fame. He doesn’t have any great cause to him, he’s the worst.」

Why was a girl like Aria together with Lyle? These several days, Lionel kept watching Aria all the time so he was puzzled.

She was bright, active, and also helped with the work. Besides she was strong and pretty. There were a lot of men who became interested in her. But, she was Lyle’s comrade so the surroundings didn’t call out to her.

Aria made a complicated expression.

「No, that’s……usually he’ll be calmer. Besides, he isn’t a bad guy, and I was saved by him. I became his comrade also because of that reason.」

「Actually I heard about your story. Originally you were from a Baron house weren’t you? If you lived in the capital you must be a capital noble. That guy is a feudal lord noble. He’s a savage.」

From the perspective of a capital noble, feudal lord nobles were barbarians. Even though the royal capital──the king gave them recognition to own their own territory, they had a haughty attitude. The capital nobles also hated feudal lord nobles.

Aria was making a slightly sad face.

「I’m not a noble anymore.」

「Yo, you’re a noble. Then, you can marry a noble in the capital. If you do that you’ll be able to return back to a noble right away. You can return to the capital.」

Lionel was making his approach, but Aria didn’t get it.

「It’s no use even if I go back after so long. Besides, my life right now is also not bad.」

「Adventurers are savages. It’s not a job that a girl like you should do.」

「I won’t be able to eat if I don’t work.」

The two’s conversation didn’t mesh with each other.

Lionel made his resolve.

「The, then, how about you come with me? I’m a capital noble. My house can pass down its title, and there is also annuity from the palace so there won’t be any need to worry about your livelihood.」

Aria was dumbfounded.

「What are you saying? You’re going out with Miranda’s little sister aren’t you?」

「……We aren’t a good match. Besides, Lyle will inherit the Circry House anyway. If that’s the case, then I’ll break up with Doris. So if only you agree then.」

「No, that’s strange. Even if you can’t inherit the house you can still marry her right? Besides, it seems you’re misunderstanding but, it’s not like Lyle is aiming to become heir you know?」

「Eh?」

Lionel was shocked hearing that. Porter arrived at that timing. It seemed that it was carrying food at the back. Monica and Shannon came down from it.

「We brought food. You all, line up here quickly~」

「Quickly~」

Noticing the unmotivated Monica and Shannon who was imitating her, Aria put her hand on her stomach.

「I’m hungry. Come on, let’s eat quickly.」

Lionel stared at the back of Aria who was walking away while gripping his chest with his hand. He clenched his clothes and his face distorted with frustration──

.

Three days passed since the first battle.

From early in the morning I climbed onto the rooftop of a building where I could look across the town and watch the forest from a distance.

On the map drawn inside my head, a squirming swarm of red dots was moving out from the forest.

「……They’re coming. Looks like it’s their full force without keeping anything back.」

The ancestors were laughing.

『Finally. They really made us wait for long.』

『Now then, it’s finally the main show. I’m thrilled.』

『I’m certainly looking forward to it.』

『It’s a griffon after all.』

『One-on-one. If possible I want it to become a one-on-one duel.』

『Lyle, the time for you, too, to become an adult has finally come.』

……These six were like always. If the First was here, would he react the same?

I rang out the bell to notify that the enemy was coming.

The Third’s voice sounded excited.

『It was a boring request but, it got an unexpected harvest in it. We told Lyle to accept to teach him how reality is but……to think that he can also experience a Griffon subjugation at the same time is the best! Lyle, let’s have fun!』

……It wasn’t fun.

.

──Luka jumped to his feet hearing the bell sound. His mother called out to him.

「Luka, let’s hurry to evacuate.」

「Ye, yeah.」

Actually he also wanted to fight, but it was decided that those who couldn’t fight would evacuate. He quickly finished changing and went outside. There a lot of people already came out.

It was a small town. They immediately arrived at the evacuation site.

It was the biggest building in the town. It was built solidly. Even so it was cramped with several hundred people filling it.

A girl wearing maid uniform that looked like a red dress──Monica was looking after the evacuating people. From the story of the town’s women, her speech and action were a bit strange but she was a hardworker who worked fast and also smart.

「Oh, there you are. With this the evacuation of everyone is finished.」

It seemed that Luka and others were the last ones.

「Could it be you remembered everyone’s faces?」

Luka’s mother was surprised how Monica judged that everyone was here. Monica looked smug.

「That much is easy for this Monica. I’ll do everything from looking after everyone until securing their safety. That’s the work that chicken dickwad entrusted to me after all. I’ll complete it perfectly!」

Luka’s mother got a really complicated expression hearing Monica’s smiling reply.

Just in case, there was also Norma here serving as a guard. Although, she was simply pushed here by Lyle because he didn’t want the chain of command to be disturbed by her presence at the frontline.

Luka was watching the building’s door being closed.

(Lyle-sama and the others, will they be alright?)

Luka was worried about Lyle──

.

──The monsters under the leadership of the Griffon were attacking from four directions.

The griffon was watching the battle from the sky and didn’t look like it would come down.

The battlefield that was entrusted to Sophia was extremely chaotic.

「Why are monsters using this kind of method?」

Orcs and Ogres were throwing smaller monsters over the wall. The monsters that were thrown in one after another were rampaging inside the town.

Sophia was cutting them down with her battle axe, but her allies were in chaos.

The knights were raising their voices.

「Don’t mind them and attack outside the wall!」

「It’s impossible to not mind it when there are enemies behind us, you stupid idiot!」

In the battlefield where curses and insults to each other were also resounding, Sophia somehow did what she could.

「Even though Miranda-san was able to do it without problem.」

Sophia felt impatient after hearing Miranda’s battle result.

She was comparing herself with Miranda who managed to protect her gate without any reinforcements.

Fire balls were fired from outside the wall one after another. Even Goblins and other small monsters were also thrown in. The soldier who got hit by a fire ball rolled around on the spot desperately to extinguish the fire.

「Ho, hot-!」

「Oi, get a hold of yourself!」

One soldier showed his back. A Goblin stabbed him from behind with a knife.

「He, help!」

「Kuh!」

She killed the goblin by swinging her battle axe horizontally. Blood splashed from the monster and it collapsed.

「Treat the wound right──」

She tried to save the soldier, but the surroundings were in a chaotic state.

Sophia was flustered.

(What to do? What should I──)

There Porter came charging. It sent the monsters flying and then the rear hatch opened. Soldiers were going out from there. The surroundings cheered at the appearance of allies.

「Reinforcements are coming!」

Sophia was relieved.

They surrounded the monsters with the increase of people and cut them down using superior numbers.

「I’m glad──ah」

However, this time a lot of fire balls were fired towards Sophia and the others.

Without her noticing, Shannon’s figure could be seen on Porter.

「Fufu, it’s finally my turn! Just this much is meaningless in front of me!」

Shannon was usually completely hopeless, but in regards to magic she possessed excellent talent. Shannon who possessed eyes that could see mana spread out her hands widely and repelled all the fire balls.

Magic shield. Sophia could also use it, but unlike Shannon it would be impossible for her to deflect all of them.

「──Amazing.」

Clara came down from Porter and approached Sophia.

「I’ll transport the wounded.」

「Tha, thank you very much.」

(I’m really pathetic. If, I’m stronger──)

When she was finally recovering her composure, the gate was broken through this time──

.

Compared to before, the monsters were coming with plans.

Like throwing in their allies, no matter how you looked at it, it was strange.

「What are they thinking?」

The Second was telling me to calm down.

『These guys aren’t bothered by harm to their allies after all. It’s pointless to think about it. Even so, both Sophia and Aria are working hard.』

The Second sounded a bit happy.

「We kept sending them reinforcements because they’re in jeopardy though.」

Miranda-san’s place and Morris-san’s place were alright. Morris-san also had Eva-san with him.

『Even with that, those two idiots have grown remarkably. I’m looking forward to their future.』

The Second always called the two of them as idiots, but it seemed he actually liked them.

I looked up to the sky.

「……This is the worst.」

I unsheathed the saber hanging on my waist.

The Griffon and Hippogriffs in the sky──I could see them carrying monsters. The monsters they were carrying were large monsters like Ogres or Orcs.

『It’ll be troubling if they don’t do at least that much. Lyle, forestall them.』

.

──The gate Morris and Eva were protecting was going stable.

The experienced Morris was commanding the soldiers using crossbows.

「Aim at the mage using magic first! Remember, aim well!」

Soldiers firing crossbows were grouped with helpers who were reloading the crossbows with arrow. They attacked repeatedly from the wall.

Seeing the Orcs trying to throw Goblins over the wall, Eva aimed her bow.

「Don’t underestimate an Elf with a bow!」

She immediately fired arrows in succession. The thrown Goblins were shot through in the air. An arrow also pierced the Orc’s head and it collapsed backward.

Behind the wall, the knights opened the gate and lured the monsters in. They thrust their spears from behind a solid wall that was prepared beforehand to defeat the monsters.

Eva was standing on the wall. A Goblin armed with a bow and arrow shot at her.

Eva ran on the wall that was a bit narrow to dodge, then she fired an arrow without a moment’s delay and killed the Goblin.

「Come on, come on, I’m over here~」

Eva was skilled with a bow, her legs and waist were strong, and she jumped around like an acrobat. Morris smiled wryly seeing her.

「Are all Elves as strong as you? I have to be careful not to make any elf angry from here on.」

Eva laughed.

「Oh, I’m especially superior even among the Elves you know? After all──oops」

She leaped down from the wall. One Hippogriff swooped down aiming at Eva. It destroyed a part of the wall while getting down.

「The big game arrived.」

The Hippogriff intimidated with a loud cry towards Eva before attacking.

It was charging to capture its prey with its front legs’ claws.

Eva used her agility to dodge, then her right hand moved behind her waist.

And then she took out a specially made arrow from her belongings.

「It’s the trump card I received from Miranda.」

She nocked it on her bow. The Hippogriff rushed with its eagle’s head──its beak approached to bite Eva to death.

It didn’t look concerned at all against a mere arrow.

The arrow that Eva calmly shot pierced the Hippogriff’s head. However, it didn’t reach until its skull. The Hippogriff didn’t stop.

「Eva-kun!」

Morris yelled. Everyone readied themselves to see Eva’s death but──

「I said it. That one is special.」

The next instant, the Hippogriff suddenly went up in flames. It rolled on the ground and continued to writhe, but the fire didn’t vanish and continued to burn fiercely.

Eva was impressed.

「Oh, it’s really amazing. Magic arrow was it? It’s convenient.」

What she received from Miranda was a magic arrow that was produced in Arumsaas. It was a special item that Miranda created and its power was also on a different level.

If it was no good Eva also considered using magic to defeat the Hippogriff, but even she never expected that it would end with just one shot.

The Hippogriff became scorched and died.

Eva put her hand on her chin.

「The lovely Elf archer, no, gorgeous perhaps? It’ll be nice if there is also a song about my activity!」

Morris yelled.

「Eva-kun! I’ll listen about that later, so help us now!」

The gate that Eva and Morris were protecting was defeating monsters without any problem──

.

──Changing the place, the gate that Aria was protecting.

This place was terribly chaotic.

「THIS BASTARDDDDDD!」

Aria leaped and stabbed an Orc with her spear. It deeply pierced a vital spot. Blood spurt showered her when she pulled out her spear.

They had used the prepared traps too, but the Orc that a Hippogriff dropped off caused the place to fall into disorder.

The Hippogriff observing the situation at the ground while flying in the sky was also troublesome.

Sometimes it would swoop down and return to the sky after grabbing a person. And then an ally’s corpse would fall.

「Haa, haa……」

She was dirtied with blood but she had no leeway to be bothered about it. Monsters were thrown in one after another. And then she was also struggling to deal with the magic that were fired in.

A knight was deploying a magic barrier, but the magic pierced through and fell on the town.

The trap was destroyed by an Orc. The situation was continuing in one where they were barely holding on.

Then she heard a voice.

「So, someone!」

When she turned around, Lionel was being attacked by a Goblin. A Goblin was mounting him while trying to stab him with a knife. He was barely pressing back its hand while crying and screaming for help.

Aria used her Art and instantly closed the distance. She stabbed the Goblin and lifted it up, then she swung her spear with brute force to fling the Goblin.

The Goblin came off from the spear and fell on the ground. Aria offered her hand to Lionel.

「Can you stand? Pick up your weapon──」

But, Lionel’s face distorted in fear seeing Aria was smeared with blood. He moved back while still sitting on the ground and screamed.

「Hiiii!」

He screamed pathetically and ran away. Aria reached out to him but, she pulled back her hand.

(Aa, I see. It’s because I’m soaked with blood.)

She fixed her grip on her weapon and looked around. She was looking if there was any ally who needed help, then this time an Ogre came down from the sky.

The Hippogriff brought it from outside.

「Doing this troublesome thing again.」

Aria leaped to the front of the Ogre. However, the Ogre didn’t even look at Aria and destroyed the gate. The trap was already broken and didn’t function. The monsters were entering into the town one after another.

「This is the worst.」

In front of the monsters that were coming in droves, knights and soldiers were getting cold feet.

Aria raised her spear and went forward.

However, she didn’t have any way to defeat a great amount of monsters.

(I can’t breathe. My body is heavy. My weapon is slippery with blood I can’t hold it firmly. This might be really dangerous.)

When she stabbed a Goblin that jumped at her, her spear broke.

Although she immediately prepared another weapon, there was only the short sword on her waist. The length of the blade was quite long, but her handling of it was inferior compared to using a spear.

「If only, I was stronger──」

Aria muttered.

(At this kind of time, if that guy──Lyle came for me. For me to think something like that, I’m unexpectedly a maiden. But, right now I want even more strength. Strength that even that guy can rely on.)

When she was lamenting her pathetic self, the red Gem hanging on her neck emitted a faint light.

Red light enveloped Aria.

「──!」

The Hippogriff observing in the sky cried out, then the monsters assaulted Aria and the others.

An Ogre raised its voice and swung down the club it held at Aria.

The next moment Aria──vanished from that spot.

The club hit the ground and shook the surroundings, but Aria’s figure wasn’t there.

The Ogre moved its head to search for Aria. Blood splashed behind it.

When it turned around, it saw other monsters getting cut apart and fell with blood spurting out. The Ogre opened its eyes wide from that unbelievable sight and stood still on the spot.

The knights and soldiers also didn’t understand what was going on.

「Wha, what?」

「Where did the red haired girl vanish to──」

「Oi, over there!」

Aria got behind the monsters and picked up a fallen spear of her ally.

(Aa, I understand. I see, so I’m finally recognized.)

The red Gem was emitting a faint glow, granting Arts to Aria. The spear she picked up was an inferior good and felt more brittle compared to the spears Aria used until now.

Aria grasped that spear and took a stance. Then, the spear’s color changed gradually from the places that she touched. Before long the spear was tinged with metallic luster, its texture was also becoming metal itself.

Aria swung it around.

「Yep, it has good vibes. It’s not slippery and feel fit with my hands.」

She hardened the weapon using an Art──a mere spear changed into a spear that was made from metal.

An Ogre yelled. Monsters swarmed towards Aria. Aria swung her spear before the monsters entered her range. Then blood spurted up once more.

The monsters outside the range fell down on the ground in great number. Aria watched that while putting her spear on her shoulder.

「Aa, this is certainly convenient. But, it’s really tiring.」

The Gem in Aria’s possession had memorized the Arts of the women of the Lockwarde House for generations. One Art was weapon strengthening, another one was an Art to let out a slash wave.

There were two more.

Aria grasped her right hand.

「Amazing. Strength is welling up.」

Her hand was making creaky sounds. It was a simple body strengthening Art, but its aggressiveness was different from the Art that Lyle had.

Her physical ability was drastically increased while she was accelerated by her own Art. Blood spurted and drifted in the air at the place that Aria passed through.

Her allies were surprised.

「Wha, what’s that?」

「Lies. It only looked like something red was passing through.」

「Wha, what a terrifying woman.」

The Hippogriff watching from the sky flew down vigilantly, but Aria cut down the monsters on the ground before that and jumped on an Ogre.

She grabbed the Ogre’s head and snapped it, then without pause she used its body as a jumping point to leap towards the sky.

「This is, the Lockwarde House’s, my──」

The last Art was an Art to unleash an attack of full power.

When the Hippogriff tried to run away in surprise, Aria was approaching before its eyes. She wildly struck the Hippogriff using her strengthened spear.

「──POWERRRRRR!」

The spear was smashed into pieces, but the hippogriff’s head was also smashed at the same time.

When Aria yelled at the sky, the knights and the soldiers raised their cheers──

.

──Sophia raised her right hand to the sky.

She was breathing hard. Her hair was messy and dirty with soil and blood.

The gate was broken through and monsters were rushing in. The situation wasn’t a good one for Sophia and the other people there. However, cheers were rising from the surroundings.

「A, awesome.」

「The monsters are──」

──Kneeling on the ground.

The monsters entered the town. But, when Sophia raised one hand, the monsters suddenly became slow.

Even the Hippogriff flying in the sky fell to the ground and writhed.

Clara was surprised.

「Don’t tell me, an Art? The second stage in this timing?」

Sophia had an Art to manipulate weight, but it was limited to herself and the object she touched. However, that performance was increased remarkably with the liberation of the second stage.

Sophia’s Art possessed the power enough to press the monsters flat on the ground.

However, her breathing was rough and her expression was fatigued.

「Fi, finish them quickly. The time is……」

Clara yelled to the knights.

「Please finish them off quickly. There is no time!」

「Go, got it!」

Armed knights and soldiers swung down their weapons on the monsters.

Shannon didn’t like that sight and escaped inside Porter.

Sophia used her battle axe as a cane and somehow kept her body standing.

Knights and soldiers surrounded the Hippogriff and swung their weapons down, finishing it.

「Crush its heart properly. These guys have powerful vitality after all. It’ll stand again if you do it half-way.」

「Understood.」

The finishing blow was dealt thoroughly. When everything was over, Sophia almost fell and she was supported by Clara.

「Sophia-san! We’ll head to Novem-san’s place right away.」

Sophia looked at her palm.

(Ha, have I……become slightly stronger?)

Sophia closed her eyes while looking at the defeated monsters and the cheering allies──

.

I was in front of two Orcs.

They were the monsters that the Hippogriffs dropped down.

The Orcs had weapons that they took away from humans’ hands, but I lured them to between buildings so they couldn’t swing around their hand and finished them off using my saber one by one.

When I looked up to the sky there was only a Griffon and a Hippogriff there.

「The other Hippogriffs headed to the gates huh.」

When I checked the situation using Arts, red dots and blue dots were mixed in. I could see that the situation was progressing favorably, but there was also harm to our side.

The Fifth gave me the next instruction.

『Take care of the problem from the things that you can do now. There is still an Ogre remaining.』

It wasn’t just Orcs that the Hippogriff dropped.

I somehow finished off the Orcs, but the Ogre left during that time.

When I checked the location…….

「This is bad. Over there is──」

It was the place where the townspeople evacuated to and also the facility where the wounded were kept.

.

──Novem was healing the wounded who were brought in.

The townswomen were helping her.

「It hurts. It hurts.」

She rushed to a crying soldier and closed the wound with magic.

The woman who saw that was surprised.

「The wound is healed this cleanly. Magic is really amazing.」

The treatment was over and the soldier lost consciousness. Seeing that Novem gave the woman her instructions.

「Please wipe his body clean. After that, prepare food and water after he rests for a while.」

If the wounded soldier wasn’t seriously injured, they would return back to battle again after resting.

There were also people who felt scared and didn’t want to return outside, but there were also people who grabbed their weapons and tried to go outside despite being heavily injured. Several people would hold down such a person. This place was also a battlefield.

When Novem wiped her sweat, a yelling voice came from the entrance.

「KYAAAAAAA!」

There, a woman was falling on her butt.

Ahead of that woman, an Ogre was crouching down and peeking inside. It half opened its large mouth and drool was trickling down.

The people were in mayhem. Novem rushed forward during that time.

「Please back away. Don’t stay in front of me!」

Novem held her staff to protect the wounded and the townspeople. The Ogre saw Novem and stopped moving.

Without pause it then stepped back and left to somewhere to escape.

The women were relieved and sat down on the spot.

「I felt my lifespan shrinking.」

「They are fighting such things outside huh.」

「I can’t stop trembling from the terror.」

Novem put down her staff and returned to healing quietly──

.

──The Ogre headed to the evacuation site next.

It sniffed human scent from the building and hit the door with its club.

After the door was destroyed, it saw a lot of human hiding inside.

The Ogre grinned. It swung up its club in order to destroy the entrance further so it could enter inside. However, a girl came forward.

「Another big one came. Orcs are also big but, this Ogre’s size might reach three meters. However! This Monica, she is ordered to protect this place by chicken dickwad. I won’t let you pass from here!」

The Ogre didn’t pay it any mind and reached out with its hand to capture her and crush her in its hand.

For some reason she didn’t smell like a human but he didn’t pay that any mind.

When it almost grabbed her, the woman took out a large hammer from somewhere.

The woman swung it up, and then swung it down on the Ogre’s hand. The ogre pulled back its hand in pain and screamed.

「Only chicken dickwad can touch me!」

The Ogre who got its flesh and bones smashed glared at the woman.

When it tried to hit her with its club, it was deflected back with the hammer. The woman showed greater power than the Ogre with that small body.

「This Monica possesses full mastery of the maid battle arts. Regret that you encountered me here!」

Before long the ogre’s head was smashed with the hammer and its consciousness ended there──

p257

.

I rushed to the evacuation site and found an ogre lying on the ground.

Its head was crushed and beside it Monica was standing with a large hammer in one hand.

「Ah, chicken dickwad~」

I was exasperated at Monica who was waving her hand lightheartedly.

「How can you smile in this kind of situation?」

「It’s because it’s this kind of situation. I want to send the best smile to chicken dickwad everyday!」

「I see. More importantly, there isn’t anyone injured right?」

「That’s cold. That’s also great though. Putting that aside, there isn’t anyone injured. This Monica is carrying the order faithfully.」

「That’s good. Novem’s place is also alright, so──」

Monica held the hammer with both hands and looked to the sky.

「Chicken dickwad, incoming!」

I also looked up. There, a Hippogriff’s figure was approaching.

I took distance from that spot. The swooping down Hippogriff trampled the Ogre’s corpse powerfully. Did it have no awareness of each other as fellow monsters or allies?

I raised my saber and glared at the Hippogriff.

The Hippogriff furrowed its eyebrows in anger.

「What, are you angry that your comrade got killed? Then don’t step on it.」

The entrance of the evacuation site was destroyed. From there I could see the evacuated townspeople being scared by the Hippogriff.

『Lyle, get away from this place. It’s dangerous to fight here.』

I slightly nodded at the Second’s calm voice and took a knife with my left hand that I threw at the Hippogriff.

The Hippogriff deflected it with its front leg, but I didn’t expect the knife to hit anyway.

「Come on, follow me you bird bastard.」

The Hippogriff cried loudly and charged at me. Perhaps because its lower body was mostly like a horse, it could run fast even on the ground.

It aimed at me who ran away while showing it my back.

「That’s good, come. Follow me!」

Monica was chasing after me and the Hippogriff.

「Ah, idiot. You standby there!」

「Where!? My first priority is at chicken dickwad’s──」

It seemed she abandoned her work after sensing a danger to me. Spare me from that.

「Protect the townspeople! I’ll be fine!」

I used an Art to increase my movement speed and took distance from that place. The Hippogriff was following me. I took out a clay from my belongings.

When I came out to the biggest street inside the town, I turned around and looked at the Hippogriff.

The Hippogriff flapped its wings and crouched down in preparation of leaping forward──

「Fire Bullet」

──I pointed my left hand forward and chanted out magic that fired out a fire ball.

But, a flame of this level wouldn’t do anything against a Hippogriff. The fire ball burst and burned, but the monster didn’t flinch to such little fire. The fire was vanishing bit by bit.

It had fur that was really resistant towards flames. It was difficult to burn but……I was convinced that I won.

「You’ve got to pay attention to below you.」

I saw the Hippogriff step on the clay that I dropped. That was why, I fired magic without considerable power. The clay caused explosions due to the magic.

The clay was Miranda-san’s specially made product──an explosive.

The Hippogriff was blown away by the explosion and lost one front leg and one wing. Even so, seeing that it was still twitching, it looked like it was alive. It was tenacious. However, it was over already.

I was breathing roughly so I calmed myself down.

「I, I did it.」

The Seventh was satisfied.

『Wonderful. That much power from that amount. If it’s improved then its power will increase even more. Now then, you’ve got to finish it off.』

When I was about to finish it off, Lionel came near the Hippogriff.

「You, what are you doing in this kind of place?」

Lionel stabbed the dying hippogriff several times with the sword he had. He seemed to be deranged, his face was a bit scary.

「Me. I defeated this one. I’m not going to hand it to anyone! The fifty gold coins is mine!」

He stabbed the hippogriff over and over with his sword. Then he pointed his sword at me. He said that it was his and wouldn’t let me approach.

『Acting troublesome at a time like this.』

The Second was irritated. I was nervous wondering if he would tell me to kill him.

「Got it. That’s your achievement. Finish it properly okay.」

Lionel was laughing. He was laughing with a spasming face and continued whispering that fifty gold coins belonged to him.

The Third was exasperated.

『This guy was posted at another place isn’t it? Could it be he deserted in the face of the enemy? ──Oh?』

While facing the ghastly Lionel, the sound of a bell that notified everyone of emergency could be heard.

「This direction……Miranda-san’s place? Lionel, you finish off that Hippogriff properly okay!」

I hurriedly headed towards Miranda-san’s location.

.

──When Lyle left, Lionel looked down at the Hippogriff.

「I’ve stabbed it many times, and it also lost its front leg. Its wing is also blown away so it’s alright already isn’t it?」

He looked at his trembling hand. Dark shadows were created under his eyes.

His hand that was holding the sword’s handle wouldn’t listen to him. The hand was strongly grasping the sword and wouldn’t let go.

「……That’s right. I defeated a hippogriff. With this I’ll be a hero when I return. I’ll even be welcomed as the heir of the Viscount house.」

Lionel left from there with his hand still holding the sword.

「I’ll also boast to Aria. That’s right. I didn’t run away. I was fighting with a Hippogriff. That’s why, I’ll tell Aria to open her eyes already. Surely she will see me in a better light.」

Lionel was smiling while walking with unsteady steps. It was like he was going mad.

When he was gone from view, the hippogriff opened its eyes──