novelraw Chapter 135
Chapter 135
Chapter 135
The Crimson Comet succeeded in hunting the Sandworm.
Even more cleanly than I had expected.
It was a perfect hunt without a single injury.
The inexperienced new knights’ lack of field experience was neatly covered by their seasoned seniors—an ideal display of teamwork.
‘And Irene. She’s nearly reached perfection now.’
–It seems she’s learned to properly handle the mana she absorbed from that giant lizard.
‘The quality of her aura has improved tremendously. She’s just one step away now.’
After defeating the Variant Crocodile, Irene, who had been unable to control her aura for quite some time, had grown far stronger than before.
Both the quality and the quantity of her aura had advanced significantly since then.
Moreover, Irene was a knight with a particularly tricky attribute to deal with.
No ordinary knight—not even a skilled one—could ever beat her.
‘Even a Master could get devoured if careless. That armor of hers isn’t ordinary either.’
–Nor is the hammer her master gifted her, you know?
‘They’re well-matched indeed. Even for a Class 4 monster, she blew the Sandworm’s head clean off.’
Either way, the Crimson Comet’s hunt was more than satisfactory.
To think the Rabbit Tribe could now coordinate this well with the regular knights.
At this rate, using the Rabbit Tribe as part of our main battle force was practically a foregone conclusion.
“How is it, Lord Iron?”
“Excellent. You’ve all worked hard.”
“It’s only natural.”
Irene, who had delivered the final blow to the Sandworm, returned to us.
I nodded lightly, acknowledging her achievement.
Still, it was somewhat regrettable that she came back drenched in the Sandworm’s filthy green blood.
Especially in this barren field where there was no decent place to wash.
Of course, we had magic tools that could draw water, but once you got that stuff all over you, it was troublesome to deal with.
Scraping the sticky mess off armor was no easy task either.
“You’re such a messy girl. Come here.”
That was when Yuria stepped forward.
As she recited a chant, Irene’s appearance instantly became spotless.
–Ho~ That’s shamanism, huh.
‘…There was something like that?’
Was that one of those Clean spells common in old fantasy tales?
Now that I thought about it, Yuria was always perfectly tidy whenever we went out.
‘This feels unfair. She’s been keeping that all to herself?’
But apparently, it wasn’t such a simple spell after all.
“It’s not like human magic that uses mana crystals as a power source. Shamanism drains your stamina fast.”
Come to think of it, this woman had collapsed before after using shamanic techniques.
So it wasn’t exactly efficient either.
“I only did it for Irene. Females are precious, after all. The males can wash themselves over there.”
Not that she was wrong—but she could’ve at least included Leisha, being a fellow woman and all.
Of course, given their relationship, that was easier said than done.
“Hmph. Filthy monster blood? I just block it with aura.”
I couldn’t help but glance at Leisha—this woman could coat herself entirely in overflowing aura.
Her aura control was flawless.
Even back when we fought the Boar Tribe in the Burning Gorge, she remained spotless until the end.
She, too, kept surprising me the more I saw her.
‘A fox versus a lion, huh. It’s pretty even.’
In the end, the attention turned toward Irene.
“Oh, that looks amazing, Master Leisha! I want to learn that too.”
“Hm, it’s quite simple once you grasp the trick. I’m sure you can learn it, Irene.”
Apparently impressed by Leisha’s performance, Irene eagerly moved closer to her.
Guess that’s Yuria’s loss for now.
They all seemed to be having a good time.
With Irene joining in enthusiastically, Leisha’s outdoor lesson began.
Even Yuria, pretending not to care, was secretly listening attentively.
It was a rather impressive aura technique.
Not that it mattered much to me—my muscles devoured all my aura anyway.
For me, washing with plain water was enough.
Back when I was deployed overseas, I’d spent days rolling in dust—this was luxury by comparison.
‘Sometimes, this world feels more convenient than modern times. Being able to use water anywhere like this.’
After the Crimson Comet cleaned up the Sandworm hunt, the battlefield looked neat once more.
Feeling once again the greatness of magical tools, we quietly set up camp.
The path toward the Horse Tribe’s domain was quite rough.
From the first day we encountered the Sandworm, not a single day passed without meeting some kind of monster.
Thanks to that, the Crimson Comet’s new knights steadily gained real combat experience.
By the time we reached the Horse Tribe’s village, they would likely have become dignified, capable knights.
Sometimes, a few days of blood-soaked battle taught more than a month of training at the castle.
“We’ll probably arrive tomorrow?”
“The Horse Tribe is a nomadic people who move their settlements often. The place we’ll reach tomorrow is one of their bases in this region. If they’re still there, we’ll be able to meet them.”
“So they’re complete nomads, huh. What if they’re gone?”
“Then we’ll head farther north to the next settlement.”
“That sounds troublesome.”
“There aren’t that many places suitable for a large Horse Tribe to settle. So we’ll find them after checking a few locations.”
We’d already been traveling for a week, and the thought that they might not even be there was disheartening.
But if moving was simply part of their nature, then so be it.
Yuria, clearly having opinions on the matter, began venting her frustration toward the Horse Tribe.
“I’ve had plenty of wasted trips before. This is still better. If they’ve gone all the way to the northern plains, though, that’s real trouble.”
“Really?”
“They usually don’t go that far this season. Maybe in spring or early summer.”
Fortunately, autumn and winter were the times when the Horse Tribe moved south.
If we’d gotten the timing wrong, our expedition could’ve dragged on much longer.
“Dinner is ready, Lord Iron.”
“Oh, really? Let’s eat, then.”
As we chatted, the meal was prepared.
Normally, on outdoor expeditions, we ate preserved rations from the territory.
They were a mix of beans, flour, and Horned Rabbit jerky, seasoned with herbs and salt—standard field rations.
It felt similar to the handmade dumplings we’d eaten at the Cow Tribe’s village.
The main difference was that these used plenty of herbs and salt, and of course, the Horned Rabbit jerky added a distinct flavor.
It was one of the improvements made since our territory’s living conditions had gotten better—but after a few days of eating the same thing, it was still easy to get tired of it.
Today, we decided to roast a whole Horned Rabbit and eat it.
We were carrying plenty of Horned Rabbits for trading with the Horse Tribe, so losing a few here wouldn’t really be a problem.
Since Horned Rabbit tasted great even when simply roasted with salt, the knights, who had grown sick of field rations, all welcomed the change.
–But how do you plan to approach the Horse Tribe?
‘Hm? What do you mean? We just throw a Horned Rabbit at them, of course.’
When we dealt with the Cow Tribe, I realized that Horned Rabbits had far greater power than I’d imagined.
So this time, I planned to skip all the complicated steps and start by tossing them a Horned Rabbit.
There was nothing better than meat to win the favor of Beastmen, and since the Horse Tribe was also a Beastman race, they wouldn’t be able to resist the Horned Rabbit’s charm.
And if that meat happened to be Fried Rabbit, then there was nothing more to say.
–Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just as I was happily chewing on meat, a rumbling sound echoed from afar.
Something massive was moving.
It didn’t feel right—like a battle was taking place somewhere nearby.
“Someone’s fighting.”
“So you feel it too.”
Leisha seemed to sense it as well.
If Leisha and I both thought the same, then it was almost certain—there was combat ahead.
‘A battle in a place like this? Could it be Beastmen?’
The only Beastmen in this region were the Horse Tribe.
So it made sense to assume that the Horse Tribe was fighting a monster.
Since we were already on our way to meet them, helping them fight the monster and then following their lead didn’t sound like a bad plan.
“Alright. Let’s move.”
The knights and I rode off on our mountain goats.
Not far away, clouds of dust were rising.
The first thing I saw was a group of tents that looked oddly familiar to me.
They resembled gers, the portable tents used by nomads in Mongolia.
“Looks like we’ve hit the jackpot—wait, what’s that…?”
If the Horse Tribe were nomadic, they would definitely be using such tents.
So I thought we’d found them, but what I saw next was a completely different group of Beastmen.
Their tails were thick and fluffy—it was clear they weren’t Horse Tribe.
–That’s the West Tribe.
‘West Tribe? You mean mice? But those don’t look like mouse tails.’
The Beastmen the Rabbit Tribe called the West Tribe definitely weren’t mice.
Mice had long, thin tails, right?
But these creatures had thick, fluffy ones instead.
‘They look more like squirrels… or maybe chipmunks. Those tails are way too bushy.’
–Squirrel or not, they’re still rodents, aren’t they?
‘No, that’s not the same thing.’
They were completely different species!
Mice belonged to the rodent family, and squirrels to the squirrel family—at least that’s how I remembered it.
Even if this was another world, that just didn’t sit right with me.
“Lord Iron, they look like they’re in danger. I’ll charge in.”
“Ah, alright.”
“Crimson Comet, charge!”
Whatever the case, the situation looked dire.
A massive Stone Giant was attacking the West Tribe’s campsite.
Many of the West Tribe were barely holding the line, but it was clear they couldn’t keep it up for long.
They didn’t seem to have many skilled warriors, and their weapons weren’t suited for fighting a large-type monster like a Stone Giant.
‘Those are crossbows… they look like the ones used by the Monkey Tribe.’
The West Tribe’s main weapons were crossbows—similar to the ones commonly used by the Monkey Tribe.
But against a Stone Giant, that wasn’t an effective choice.
For a monster whose entire body was made of rock, sharp arrows weren’t much of a threat.
Blunt weapons or hammers infused with aura were far more effective.
Or fists cloaked in aura, like Leisha’s.
“Would that be alright?”
“Hm?”
“I’ll handle that one.”
“Well, sure. It’s an emergency anyway.”
“Good. I’m going.”
At that moment, Leisha—who’d been riding behind me—leapt off.
She swiftly jumped from my goat to Irene’s.
“We’re charging straight in!”
With Leisha on her back, Irene spurred her mountain goat forward.
Galloping full speed, Irene leapt over the West Tribe warriors desperately defending their camp and crashed straight into the Stone Giant.
Moments later, the knights of Crimson Comet arrived on the battlefield.
They quickly pulled the injured West Tribe members to safety and began clearing the field.
“Did I come too late?”
–Not really. Those females were just too fast.
I arrived at the battlefield as well.
But by the time I got there, Leisha and Irene were already engaging the Stone Giant.
I’d ridden fast enough, but I still couldn’t match Irene’s riding skills.
–That female is three times faster when she’s on a mount.
‘Well, that’s fine by me.’
Leisha’s iron fists and Irene’s giant battle hammer were both perfect weapons against a Stone Giant.
With the two of them fighting together in perfect sync, I decided to back them up instead.
A Class 3 monster like the Stone Giant was the perfect opponent for the two to stretch their muscles.
–Groooaaar!
A short while later, the Stone Giant, battered by Irene’s heavy hammer and Leisha’s aura-infused punches, crumbled into a pile of rocks.