novelraw Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Chapter 64
*
I definitely killed the goat demon.
It wasn't because I confirmed it by cutting off its head or anything like that.
It was a certainty I gained from seeing with my own eyes that the magical energy had vanished from the goat demon.
Having witnessed the incredible regenerative ability of that horse demon that attacked us early in our journey, I wasn't careless about it.
However, I had to admit that I made a mistake.
Unlike monsters, the corpse of a demon doesn't turn into magic stones or magic stone fragments even after death, and I watched it bubble and crumble apart.
And then, I saw a spherical object visible within that melting, collapsing corpse.
I had to admit that I made a fatal mistake.
*
The flesh was literally bubbling, and with each pop of a bubble, a faint trace of magical energy leaked into the air, being absorbed into a sphere about the size of a human fist, still half-buried in the corpse.
No, that's probably not a corpse.
That thing is still alive, and it continues to pour magical energy into itself.
It's impossible to prevent magical energy from escaping as long as something is alive.
But if that sphere is there, the story changes.
Once activated, that sphere greedily absorbs the surrounding magical energy.
That goat demon made a decision the moment its head was cut off—a decision to throw away its own life.
I don't know if it still retains consciousness, but I underestimated its tenacity.
And I underestimated the reach of their hands, their meticulousness.
"Why is something like that here?"
Erika, that Erika Solnzari, is standing there in shock.
But that shock was only allowed for a moment.
With the sound of Oganight's magic stone fragments cracking as they were drained of magical energy, we sprang into action.
I suddenly recalled words taught to us at the academy.
I think it was an elderly male teacher with white hair.
His face was one that, in the Faltarl Kingdom which has maintained peace for so long, you'd be unlikely to see, though he said it as if it were a joke.
If you ever see that on a battlefield, turn your back and run with all your might; it won't be called shameful, nor will you be reprimanded—in fact, you'll be praised, provided you survive.
I always thought he was a teacher who told unfunny jokes, but I never imagined I'd come to understand it after a gap of years.
No, really, it's not funny at all.
Just before turning my back and running, I felt like the head of the goat demon rolling on the ground smiled at me.
*
"Wha-What!? What's happening right now!?"
Shara, being carried princess-style by Erika, shouts that she doesn't understand what's going on.
Right now, we're running.
And we're running at full speed.
"Because there was something bad there."
Erika says with a tone of regret.
"Because there was something really bad there."
"What kind of bad thing are we talking about?"
Erika hesitated to answer Shara's question, probably because of the noble mindset still lingering in her.
Among nobles, there's a belief that war is the work of nobles.
Commoners don't need to worry about war, nor do they need to know its meaning, its pride, or its foolishness.
I think it's an arrogant belief. From my perspective, if you look into history even a little, it's common for commoners to be dragged into wars, so I wonder what they're even talking about.
Is that a belief I hold because, as a noble, I strayed from the proper path early on?
So, I answer in Erika's place.
"It's a magic tool, the worst kind of magic tool."
Shara, with just her gaze, asks me what kind of magic tool it is as I run behind Erika.
"It's a magic tool made by some idiot, specifically an idiot named Rainibati, designed to blow up an entire town."
Its name is 'Rainibati's Fifth,' a magic tool created fifth in line by the unparalleled magic tool maker and madman Rainibati, who shaped the continent's peace over the last hundred years.
Magic is an imitation of divine art, skills are miracles granted by the gods, and magic tools are the crystallization of human wisdom.
The crystallization of wisdom scattered across the world by a madman who wished to research magic tools leisurely in a world without war serves as proof that human wisdom isn't always used for good.
"A magic tool that blows up a town, something like that!?"
Shara swallowed the words 'there's no way,' probably after seeing my face or Erika's.
"It exists, and in large quantities across various countries."
I suppress the urge to scream as I think about the meaning of such a thing appearing before us.
I let out a wry smile, inwardly laughing at myself for putting on too much false bravado.
"Some idiot thought, 'If everyone has something like this, no one would dare wage war, right?' and made and distributed it."
"Wh-Who would do something like that!?"
Shara shouts a perfectly reasonable question.
"A guy named Rainibati from the Faltarl Kingdom. By the way, he died over a hundred years ago."
"Is everyone in Faltarl an idiot!?"
I think to myself that she just casually included us in that insult, but I let it slide.
I understood that those words were her way of distracting herself from fear.
"So, do you think we'll make it out of this?"
Shara's question wasn't directed at me but at Erika.
Her voice was incredibly calm.
It wasn't resignation, but the words of someone who had accepted the situation.
As expected of a woman who tried to buy time for villagers to escape by fighting a Golden Ogre with her guts literally spilling out. Her ability to switch gears is on par with us adventurers.
Erika's voice that followed was no different from usual, and though I hate to admit it, that might be thanks to Shara's calm tone.
"I'm sorry, Shara. To be honest, I don't know. If we weren't in the middle of a forest, I could guarantee we'd escape out of range, but..."
That's right, in the dense forest of the Demonlands, we can't run at full speed.
To make matters worse, this is the Demonlands.
As if pushing us forward, a "dense" magical shockwave passed through us.
In the Demonlands, there's no shortage of magical energy for Rainibati's Fifth to absorb. After all, the forest of the Demonlands itself is a phenomenon akin to magic.
Rainibati's Fifth begins emitting magical shockwaves once it absorbs a certain amount of magical energy.
Those shockwaves are meant to signal that anyone within their range will die.
So, run away—that's supposedly the goodwill of the madman Rainibati.
These magical shockwaves are released at increasingly shorter intervals, and it's said that when they reach the speed of a heartbeat after running, the magic tool activates.
What a distasteful kind of goodwill.
Gritting my teeth at the unexpectedly rapid release of magical shockwaves, I realize we probably won't escape at this rate.
Erika's magical energy flickered unstably for a moment as she felt the shockwave at her back, then tightened sharply.
"Shin, take care of Shara."
Without even glancing back at me, Erika throws Shara toward me.
I catch Shara with both hands as she yells, 'Are you kidding me!?' in midair.
I can't help but click my tongue at the irony of my first princess carry being with Shara, of all people.
Shara yells from my arms, 'What's with that tongue click!?' but I ignore her for now.
Erika's golden magic flickers and rises like a flame.
"I'll make a path."
More than her words, her back spoke volumes.
"Solnzari's secret technique. Please keep it a secret, okay?"
Despite the joking tone of her words, her back eloquently declared that she would never give up, no matter the situation.
In an instant, Erika's red hair seemed to burst into flames.
I could tell Shara in my arms gasped, so I knew it wasn't just my eyes seeing things.
In the next moment, an immense amount of magical energy gathered in Erika's hands.
I've been nothing but astonished by Erika today.
The golden magic condensed in Erika's hands looked like a crystal made of gold to my eyes.
The only reason I could react to Erika suddenly stopping was the sheer certainty that if I got in front of her now, I'd definitely die.
Erika lets out a short breath.
I couldn't accurately put into words what happened next.
Because I couldn't even comprehend what had happened.
I can explain it only as a phenomenon.
From Erika's hands, a magic unlike anything I've ever seen was unleashed, rivaling the Dragon Breath of an ancient dragon.
As a result, a new path suddenly appeared in the middle of the forest.
Flames scattered from Erika's blazing hair, and as she curtly said, "Let's go," and started running, I gave a vague reply and followed her back.
"Are there any ordinary people in Faltarl?"
Shara, a user of incantation magic who could likely do something on par with Erika, said this with a stunned expression.
From Shara's perspective as a user of incantation magic, she must clearly understand the absurdity of what Erika just did.
"Of course there are."
I spoke in an especially bright tone because I sensed fear in Shara's voice.
Seeing Shara like this reminded me of my classmates at the academy when they talked about Erika.
For some reason, I didn't want Shara to look at Erika the way they did.
"Specifically, that would be me."
What greeted my words was Shara's half-lidded stare.
"Are you seriously saying Erika's husband is ordinary?"
Hmm, fair point.
There's no way a human who could become Erika's husband would be ordinary.
In the eyes of the world, such a human would probably be called the luckiest man alive. So, I honestly correct myself.
"Indeed, I, who became Erika's husband, am the luckiest man in the world."
I meant to correct myself seriously, but Shara, in my arms, covered her face with her hands and shouted, "This married couple! This married couple is just impossible!"