novelraw Chapter 69 : Chapter 69
Chapter 69 : Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Tet Island was home to a truly diverse range of monsters.
However, experts claimed that none of the monsters inhabiting Tet Island were normal creatures.
I, too, agreed with that opinion.
How could things born from the massive amount of mana flowing through the island, rather than through the normal reproductive activities of living beings, be normal creatures?
Those things were just lumps of mana.
As a result, they all had bizarre appearances, lacking any biologically advantageous features for survival.
‘Aquatic. And yet, fur that gets wet easily. Two thin and weak arms for moving on land….’
An assessment was quickly made.
It was an extremely easy prey.
I thought it would be better to hand something like this over to the new recruits who had no combat experience yet, but since it was their first mission, they were frozen stiff, not knowing what to do, just staring at me.
In times like these, it was more efficient for me to show them what to do myself rather than explaining it with words.
“Kraaaaaah!”
Its intelligence also seemed low.
I used the Fairy's Wings to approach it quickly.
Would it attack by swinging its arms, or would it thrust its mouth forward to bite?
As I approached with anticipation, the result was…
what flew at me was its incredibly thin arm.
Judging that it would be a waste to even block it with a shield, I immediately swung my sword.
The sword, swung in a red arc, cut off the monster's arm with incredible ease.
“…Oh?”
Although I had some expectations for the sword's performance, this was beyond my expectations.
I hadn't even put much strength into it, yet I barely felt any resistance when cutting.
When I cut off one of its arms, the monster lost its balance and collapsed helplessly.
Despite that, its instinct to catch prey and fill its stomach was still strong, and its two eyes were still fixed on me.
There was no easier prey than a monster with low intelligence.
For the finishing blow, the head… it seemed better to avoid it.
Since I didn't know where the mana source was.
Judging that it would be better to cut off its neck, I approached the monster once more.
It should have learned that an attack with its arms was useless after paying a heavy price once, but perhaps because it hadn't learned properly, the monster was swinging its remaining arm again.
I cut this off without mercy as well, and with added rotational force, I cut off its neck.
The monster's head rolled on the ground.
However, I did not let my guard down.
Since their very birth was on a different plane from ordinary creatures, there were sometimes those that could move around perfectly fine even after their heads were cut off.
Fortunately, this individual was not one with such cockroach-like vitality and went limp.
Surprisingly, not a single drop of blood stained the red sword that hung loosely.
“I knew it, but it’s a really good sword.”
The unit members, who had confirmed that the situation was over, joined in late.
“I'm sorry. I wanted to help, but it ended so quickly….”
“Was it that you were strong, senior? Or was that monster too weak?”
Ririsa lowered her head with a dark expression, and Lattia, with a confused face, alternately looked at the monster's head rolling on the ground and my face.
As for Mars….
‘He's extremely tense.’
No matter how much he had steeled himself to sacrifice his own body for his family, if he was fine with his first task being hunting a monster like this, it would have been stranger.
“It wasn't a very strong one.”
“Is that so?”
“In the first place, the monsters that appear here on Tet Island are not ordinary life forms, so there are many abnormal individuals. Should I say they have many weaknesses? Of course, sometimes powerful individuals appear, but most of them are weak enough to be easily defeated by exploiting their weaknesses.”
“That means….”
The quick-witted Ririsa understood the meaning of my words and swallowed hard.
Although the other two didn't seem to fully understand yet.
I continued to speak while cutting open the monster's corpse in search of the mana source that would be somewhere in its heart or head.
“That's right. I won't participate in future battles.”
“……”
It was quite amusing to see them making the same expression at the same time as if on cue.
Ah.
Found the mana source.
* * *
The second monster we encountered was a boar-like creature we met deep in the forest.
There were two of them.
However, these creatures, like the first one we met, had a serious flaw as living beings.
“Kehek… Kehek….”
“Kek. Kek!”
Upon discovering us, they got all excited and charged at us with their tusks out, but just by doing that, they were exhausted and gasping for breath.
What should I say?
It was pitiful to watch.
But because their appearance was so heinous, not only Mars, who was on his first mission, but the other two were also extremely tense.
Even Lattia, who would charge in with her eyes bloodshot if the opponent were a White Hero soldier, seemed to be scared when the opponent was a monster, as her mindset changed.
But being tense and scared didn't make them so weak that they couldn't do what they had to do.
“I'll-I'll go first!”
Lattia moved first.
Although she was still clumsy at using the Fairy's Wings, it wasn't to the extent that it hindered her in battle.
Ririsa also hurriedly drew her bow, and the battle officially began.
Ririsa's archery skills had clearly improved compared to before.
Her accuracy was quite high before, but there was a sense of instability, but now she had reached a point where I could confidently entrust my back to her.
Lattia also fought quite well.
She had a good sense in the first place, and she was a fast learner.
Although she still showed a lot of clumsy aspects, this would also gradually improve.
On the other hand, Mars….
He had no talent.
He was trying his best, but he completely lacked the sensory part, the indispensable element in battle, that determined the presence or absence of talent.
“I-I'm sorry.”
On the contrary, he often got in the way of Lattia's movements or Ririsa's attack trajectory, causing harm to our allies.
As a result, I repeatedly heard Mars's apologies.
In the first place, I had recruited Mars to the team with the expectation that he would play a supporting role, so I didn't have high expectations for his combat ability, but….
Still.
I wished he was at least capable of protecting himself.
Looking at the situation, it seemed that even that would not be easy.
“Do you need help?”
A voice came from above.
For a moment, Lattia and Mars's gazes were stolen by the direction the voice came from.
The monster took advantage of that opening and attacked the two of them.
“…Tsk.”
I flew forward and swung my sword.
I cut off the head of the monster that was about to bite the nape of Mars's neck, who had shown an opening, and cut off the front leg of the creature that was about to ram Lattia at full speed, making it fall.
Only then did the two of them realize what mistake they had made, and they hurriedly focused on finishing off the monster.
I raised my head.
Five soldiers, who were maintaining a slightly higher altitude than us, were sending embarrassed glances.
Judging by their uniforms, they seemed to be soldiers of the Empire.
“I apologize. I didn't mean to startle you…. With my limited insight, the situation seemed difficult, so I was just trying to offer help. I didn't know you were in the middle of training.”
The man who seemed to be the field commander apologized politely.
It wasn't a very pleasant situation, but in the first place, this Tet Island was not a training ground.
It was a battlefield, even if the main battle hadn't started yet.
To put it bluntly, if they had been White Hero soldiers, it would have been quite troublesome.
Since it was my fault for setting up a stage to build up the experience of my team members in a place like this, I had no right to say anything to him.
“It's alright. I know you spoke to us with good intentions.”
“I'm glad you understand. Then, we'll be on our way….”
The man and his squad left the place.
After seeing them off, I raised my altitude a little more.
I had been lowering my altitude to provide help as quickly as possible in case someone made a mistake and was in danger, but I realized that was a mistake.
Here on Tet Island, it wasn't just the monsters that were hostile to us.
The characteristic of this Frei Archipelago was that there was always a possibility of encountering White Hero soldiers.
‘This is all experience.’
As expected.
As a field commander, I also have many shortcomings.
I realized it anew.
“Done! We won!”
In the meantime, Lattia dealt the finishing blow to the monster.
I checked the remaining flight time of the Fairy's Wings.
About 1 hour and 20 minutes.
This was because I had used it efficiently; in the case of Lattia, who was the clumsiest at handling the Fairy's Wings among the members, she only had about 30 minutes left.
If we didn't return soon, Lattia would crash onto the poison-filled ground.
“Let's go back for now.”
“Is it over for today?”
Lattia let out a deep sigh of relief, her shoulders slumped, and her tense body relaxed.
Mars, too, as a newcomer, couldn't show his emotions on the outside, but his face brightened up at the words to go back.
As for Ririsa….
She knew me well.
Her gaze, as if to say, "You're not that kind of person…," made me want to burst out laughing.
As Ririsa had guessed.
I had no intention of ending this precious day just here.
“First, we'll return to the airship, recharge the energy packs, and re-enter.”
“…Sob.”
* * *
We safely returned to the airship without any accidents.
The time it took to recharge the Fairy's Wings was about 1 hour.
During that time, I checked the condition of the unit members.
“Waaaaah! Why-why isn't this working the way I want it to!”
“My leg! My knee!”
“…It's a complete mess.”
It didn't seem like any more members would be ready for deployment today or tomorrow.
The only one with some potential was Byan?
The rest were at a level where I would probably grab the back of my neck and collapse in anger after giving them pointers from the side.
“Rian, Ririsa.”
Still, I was just watching to offer some help, when Selina called me and Ririsa.
Following her to the office, Selina handed us the mana source we had secured this time.
“First, I'm thinking of bestowing mana on the two of you. Do you have any objections?”
“Wouldn't it be better to grow the new recruits first?”
It was true that I was grateful for Selina's deep interest in us and her desire to do more for us.
However, as someone who was more afraid of one troll than one hero, I thought it would be a priority to grow the newly recruited soldiers so that they could at least pull their own weight.
“I think so too.”
Ririsa also agreed with my opinion.
In her case, unlike me, it seemed to be a thought that came from pure consideration.
Anyway, the opinion was 2:1.
According to democratic principles, our opinion should be accepted, but in the first place, all the choices were up to Selina.
“I see. Well then, I'll bestow the mana, so please stay still.”
“…Why did you ask?”
“I was going to accept it if there was a valid opinion, but I still think it's a priority to raise the levels of the two of you. Rian and Ririsa. You are both on the verge of Level 3 and Level 2, respectively.”
Only after hearing Selina's words did I check my stats.
As she said.
One more time…. at most, two more times of bestowing mana, and I would be able to reach Level 3.