novelraw Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Knights are an irreplaceable fighting force.
No matter how much you raise the soldiers’ abilities, as long as they can't use mana, the limit is clear.
Take the Serpent hunt right now.
Only knights can cut the Serpent’s scales, which are harder than iron.
‘It wouldn't be impossible to clear with just soldiers, but the hunting time would increase several times.’
Even considering all that, knights are too big a burden.
“Aaron, if it were Vergil who gave the retreat order, do you think you would have ignored it?”
“…I apologize.”
The command system shakes just by the existence of a knight.
No matter how hard Hoodwock tries, overcoming the invisible wall existing between the two groups is difficult.
“I clearly said before we started, all orders are absolute. It doesn't matter if the order was right or wrong. Once the battle begins, orders are absolute.”
I said, looking around the Special Mission Unit.
“If you can't even follow orders, there is no need to remain in the Special Mission Unit.”
* * *
The hunt began again.
The knights engaged in the hunt with much more serious faces than before.
“It’s much better than earlier.”
As the hunt repeated, the coordination of each team improved.
Although lacking parts were still noticeable, it was a problem solvable with time.
“Everyone is doing well, but aren't your evaluations too harsh?”
At the words of Garius, who was treating a poisoned knight, my face crumpled.
“Most of them still haven't come to their senses.”
“Heoheo… I haven't heard of any domain's army hunting Serpents this easily.”
That is natural.
The Serpent’s strongest weapon is poison, and we have the best utility wizard.
“The hunting speed is fast because we aren't considering poison. If Lord Garius wasn't here, most of the guys who came here would have died.”
…….
Was the hunt too easy perhaps?
“This won't do. Lord Garius, please rest a bit.”
“Yes?”
“What? Captain?!”
Garius and Tail, who was receiving treatment, asked simultaneously.
“Shouldn't they properly suffer from poison to know it’s scary?”
“Captain! I know well how scary poison is even without suffering from it!”
Tail, saying that, was poisoned while trying to block the Serpent’s fangs with his bare hands.
Garius, looking at Tail’s hands which turned black in an instant, slowly nodded.
“…That makes sense.”
“Wizard-nim? Wizard-nim!”
“Then from now on, we will treat the injured guys after one hour.”
Garius, looking pathetically at Tail, chuckled and said.
“That is a good idea. If they are human, they would surely know poison is scary, but…….”
“I really know! Wizard-nim, just until me……!”
“Because there are people… who believe they can overcome something like poison with mental strength.”
Garius, ignoring the pale-faced Tail, stood up and said.
“Then I will also go to extract poison glands.”
Since my body felt stiff anyway, I stood up following Garius.
“Ah, let’s go together.”
* * *
Jeremy looked at the huge carcass in front of him with a dumbfounded face.
“Why… why on earth am I…….”
“Please hurry. There are many carcasses to process within today.”
He glared at the knight at the stiff voice heard from the side, but the knight looked at him with indifferent eyes, paying no heed.
“Ha…….”
“I am a layman in magic, but does sighing extract poison glands?”
“Eeek! I got it! Just doing it now, doing it!”
Zehir was flustered by the wizard’s sudden shout.
‘They said wizards are all strange and eccentric…….’
Seeing him get angry like that at a pure question, wizards must have little patience.
“By the way, why are you doing this here instead of participating in training? Are you a rookie?”
“Correct.”
Zehir nodded calmly.
To be precise, Zehir, who had been carrying out the Count’s special mission, was much more senior than the Special Mission Unit knights, but he was indeed a rookie in the Special Mission Unit.
“Haigo, you’re suffering. To think you caught that devil’s eye somehow…….”
“Ah, I volunteered with my comrade. Fortunately, the Special Mission Unit Captain accepted us.”
At those words, Jeremy shook his head with a disgusted face.
“How did a young gentleman make such a mistake… Tsk. Let’s work.”
“Yes.”
Jeremy carefully cut open the Serpent’s internal organs, sealed the poison gland with mana, and extracted it.
“Now, extraction is finished like this. Since a Serpent’s poison gland spreads in all directions the moment it touches air, there must be an outstanding wizard to extract the poison.”
“Oh-oh…….”
Jeremy, nodding proudly at the rookie knight’s awe-filled admiration, continued.
“The Special Mission Unit Captain asked to extract and collect scales and fangs too. But since Serpent carcasses are all so large…….”
At this point, one would expect him to offer help, but the rookie knight only blinked his eyes.
‘That, that cold-blooded fellow!’
The Young Lord told him to collect all Serpent remains instead of training today.
‘To do all that alone…….’
It seemed better to drink the extracted poison by the bowlful.
Making a regrettable request to a knight was tantamount to shame as a wizard, but Jeremy was generous with shame.
“If you have spare hands, could you help me?”
“Ah, yes, of course. I will help.”
After the rookie knight nodded, he moved saying there were a few more people to help so he would bring them now.
“Heuhe… How many will he bring… If I make soldiers do the skin and knights do the teeth, and I only extract poison glands…….”
Maybe today he wouldn't wet the blanket crying from muscle pain.
“Hahahahaha! Did you think I would obediently be skinning Serpent scales!”
-The moment he shouted.
“Hmm…….”
Startled by the voice heard from behind, he turned his head and saw people looking at him with profound faces.
“T-Tower Lord, how are you here…….”
“On my way to see you, a knight came and asked me. To help dismantle Serpents if I had time.”
“Yes……?!”
What crazy knight in the world asks a Tower Lord such a thing!
No, more than that, don't tell me……!
“Y-Young Lord…….”
“If it was that hard, you should have told me.”
Seeing the smiling devil’s face, Jeremy’s complexion turned deathly pale.
“Misunderstanding, it is a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding. I understand everything.”
At Ian’s voice full of kindness, Jeremy wanted to scream.
Because whenever that devil spoke in such a voice, the same conclusion always came out.
“Finding dismantling just a few Serpents hard means your training is lacking. Starting today, let’s do night training together.”
“Young Lord!”
“No need to be so happy.”
‘Hey!’
Jeremy wanted to shout right away that he was a wizard and needed to focus on research, not physical training, but the Young Lord and the Tower Lord had already left.
Leaving behind only the first-time-seen knight and one rookie knight.
“How can a human, how can a human do that!”
Unable to hold back his anger, Jeremy shouted at Zehir, but Zehir wasn't a target communication worked on.
“Thomas, like you said before, wizards seem strange or eccentric.”
“Can't you see that person crying?”
“It seems controlling emotions becomes harder the more one learns magic.”
Jeremy, listening to the two knights’ conversation, cursed his past self for seeking help from a knight and swallowed bitter tears.
“Wizard-nim, nice to meet you. I am Thomas from the Special Mission Unit. How can I help you?”
“Earlier the Captain said not to help…….”
“You be quiet a bit! With how many dead Serpents there are now, is the wizard supposed to sit and dismantle them alone?!”
Surprised Jeremy opened his eyes wide and looked at Thomas.
“Just say the word, we will help with the hard parts.”
A knight from a fairy tale was right there.
* * *
“Keulkeulkeul! I taught you not to trust knights so much. That fellow’s expression was quite a spectacle!”
“That is less a problem with knights and more that Zehir is a bit…….”
“Zehir?”
I looked for a proper explanation but gave up.
Zehir is… Zehir.
A person who, if someone asks for help, calls a superior resting nearby.
If the Count was nearby, he was a knight who would go to the Count and say the same thing, asking for help skinning Serpent scales.
“N-No. By the way, with this amount of poison glands, how much of ‘that’ can be made?”
As I took out the poison gland Jeremy extracted and asked, Garius checked the poison gland meticulously and said.
“Hmm… It seems the quantity won't be much. We have to check compatibility with other poisonous herbs too…….”
Garius, contemplating the recipe in his head, suddenly said.
“I think the limit might be about one per poison gland.”
“The quantity will be less than expected.”
“How about lowering the performance and increasing the quantity?”
At Garius’s question, I shook my head.
What I asked him for was a smoke bomb made using Serpent poison glands, to be precise, a poison smoke bomb.
A smoke bomb that spreads extreme poison, used by suicide squads in the game just before dying.
Naturally, if the performance is lowered, it has no meaning.
“However… if made as you said, even if one luckily survives, treatment is impossible.”
That is natural. Because the smoke bomb’s goal is to take as many enemies as possible with it.
“As you already know, it is not a bomb made with treatment in mind. Rather, if toxicity can be enhanced, I ask for enhancement.”
“…Then the person who uses the bomb won't ever return?”
At Garius’s words, half mixed with worry and concern, I smirked and said.
“It’s fine. Since I intend to use that bomb myself.”
Combining 『Dark Emperor 』 and the poison resistance obtained while overcoming Queen’s Mercy, I can fight smiling even in poisonous smoke.
I checked while catching Serpents just in case, so it was certain.
“…The Young Lord intends to bear a heavy burden.”
“Yes? No, that’s not it.”
“Heoheoheo… No need to hide it even from this old man. I will do my best to make the item you mentioned.”
At the strangely flowing conversation, I told Garius once again.
“Sir, the poisonous smoke must be lethal poison . What I want is a fog of extreme poison that even an Ogre cannot withstand.”
“Yes, understood.”
Since I said this much, he wouldn't do something strange like lowering the toxicity.
“Shall we go treat the knights who learned their lesson soon?”
When I asked Garius, he grinned and said.
“If it is not rude, may I personally check if the sirs have learned their lesson before treatment?”
At the ominosity felt from that smile, I quickly nodded.
After suffering from a wizard’s creative torture, they will absolutely not get poisoned next time.
‘In the game too, there were crazy guys who cut off bitten fingers instead of getting treated by a wizard…….’
Since Garius is a much more normal and gentlemanly wizard than that, it should be fine.
“Captain!”
“Kkeuaaaaaak!”
“You devil! Duel!”
…….
Probably.