novelraw Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
Chapter 174 : Chapter 174
Chapter 174 : Sniping?
“Brother, I heard you came through Aslan.”
“……You know that too?”
“Well, I told ‘El’ to keep an eye on your information at all times.”
My gaze, looking at the grinning Lian, was still confused.
Surely this was that cute younger brother of mine.
“Me?”
“I trust you, Brother, but our parents have no choice but to worry. Especially Mother; she couldn't sleep for a while after hearing about that Hydra.”
“Ah…….”
It seemed like he had become even more mature than me now.
“So, that’s also why I stepped forward a bit earlier than planned. Even if I'm just the second son remaining at home, I have to show a reliable side.”
“When did you start making that, that plan?”
“Hmm, was it around when I was ten?”
The words he spat out calmly with a beaming smile were even more dumbfounding.
It was to the point where I doubted if this was really Lian.
……This rascal.
“Ugh. B, Brother. W, Why?”
I pulled his cheek here and there, but he was definitely real.
“Haa……. I am sorry.”
“Yes?”
“Because a young kid was worrying about such things, and I was completely oblivious.”
“That’s just how well I hid it, you know? Haha. If you say it like that, I feel sorry.”
“Ugh. I can't get used to it. You punk!!”
“Oww. B, Brother, it, it hurts……!”
I stretched the cheek of my brother, who was pretending to be an adult again, and then sighed deeply.
“Ugh. Anyway, treat Mother well at dinner later. She really worried a lot.”
“……I got it.”
“And since El and the Reid Merchant Guild are using all means to find the Demon Cult's side, please just rest at ‘home’ for now.”
I started laughing again at my brother’s words, emphasizing ‘home’ so much, but then stopped.
“Ah, do you know that their tails are connected to a noble family of the Empire?”
“Yes? It’s not the regular reporting date for me yet……. Ah! That’s information you obtained in Aslan, right!?”
“Yeah. So…….”
I passed on information that El, or my brother’s subordinates, might already be confirming, and added a request.
“If it involves the Empire, you shouldn't step forward rashly. If any clue comes up, tell me immediately.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“……Right.”
I was about to stroke his head again as I looked at Lian smiling confidently, but realizing that he had grown quite a bit now, I patted his shoulder instead.
Looking at my brother, I realized anew that the world moved even outside the range I could perceive and imagine.
Of course.
‘……Still, I have to find those guys somehow and finish them.’
Anyway, finding those enemies would be the top priority for now.
“Then, shall we go check the mercenaries too?”
“Yes. I have gathered them in advance.”
And before that, to chase those guys with peace of mind, I had to check the safety of my hometown.
* * *
Mercenaries.
Ranks are divided from the lowest grade, who only know how to handle weapons a little, to the high-grade who have even awakened with Corporeal Arts, and the top-tier mercenaries who possess outstanding skills among them.
In reality, it is difficult to find high-grade or top-tier mercenaries.
“Usually, mercenaries only awaken after getting old at the end of a rough life…….”
“If they are such Corporeal Arts users, they usually try to lead a stable life by becoming a knight, even in a small local territory.”
“Yes. And if it's a mercenary who awakened at a young age, it's common for them to enter a famous knightly order in the first place.”
“But, you said three high-grade mercenaries came?”
“……Well, they say there are quite a few high-grade mercenaries among monster hunters. The earnings aren't bad, and I heard there are many who have a grudge against demonic beasts.”
“Really?”
“The high-grade mercenaries who came here have already finished verification. So, Brother, you just need to rest well in our hometown, even for a short while. I will catch the Demon Cult's tail for you.”
“Right. You’re reliable.”
As I walked while listening to Lian’s confident assurance, I even wondered if there was a need for me to inspect the mercenaries who had already been verified.
However.
‘Still, just in case, I should do it.’
It would be fine to be a little overly concerned for the safety of my family.
And, that thought was eventually rewarded(?).
I checked all the mercenaries Lian had gathered, and waited for the low-grade mercenaries who had been excluded from the assembly because they were patrolling the outer mountain range, to inspect them as well.
In the end, among the patrol troops that returned in the middle of the night, I found a 3-Star Magic Knight who was hiding his identity.
Plunge.
“Kuhpk…….”
The rugged mercenary, flailing at the blade that dug into his chest, soon poured out black blood and collapsed.
“……You, you, check. We…….”
Leaving behind incomprehensible words, the corpse immediately began to rot with a sizzle sound.
The demonic energy that began to scatter along with it was enough to make the mercenaries, who were frowning at the sudden situation, flinch and retreat.
“Ugh!?”
“Really!?”
“It’s true, demonic energy. This creepy feeling…….”
The low-grade mercenaries who had patrolled with the guy realized the dizzying fact that an evil cultist had been next to them and had no choice but to look at me with new eyes.
However, receiving those gazes, I just sighed briefly and looked back at my brother, who had a hardened expression.
“It seems you only inspected the high-grade mercenaries, Lian.”
“……He was a mercenary who joined recently. Just before you came, Brother……. Ahem, actually, he didn't even show signs of awakening. I am sorry.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about. Since we found him. But…….”
I was bothered by the words the guy left as he died.
Why would the Demon Cult bastards confirm me or whatever anew?
I wanted to interrogate him if I could, but I couldn't bring back a guy who had already died.
And since I had experience dealing with the Demon Cult in the first place.
‘There’s no way a low-ranking Magic Knight would know anything significant. It must be nonsense.’
I tried to shake off the uncomfortable question from my head.
That incident drove the atmosphere of Drasen back into tension.
* * *
“Why on earth were you so reckless without sparing your body…….”
“Ahem. Elina, there are times when a knight must naturally be reckless…….”
“What!?”
“……There are, but Muno, you were too reckless. Do you know how worried your mother was!”
“F, Father?”
On the evening of the day I returned to Drasen, I had to inhale food through my nose while listening to the worried nagging of my father and mother.
“Ensure the alert posture is firm!”
“Check the places where the wall construction is ongoing more thoroughly!!”
From the next day, the knights and mercenaries who received Baron Ryan Drasen’s order went into a state of alert equivalent to wartime again.
In the midst of that.
“It seems you have grown again in that short time. Let’s have a proper sparring match this time.”
I ended up sparring with my father, but the result was not as satisfactory as expected.
“Ha……. That armor, it really is a nonsensical item.”
Ryan laughed as if dumbfounded, looking at my armor which didn't have a single scratch even though it was slightly cut by Slayer.
“Yes. Well, it just happened.”
“This, well, I can’t really try to kill my own child.”
He realized the reality that it was difficult to inflict damage on me unless he brought out real killing techniques, and had no choice but to lower his sword bitterly.
“If I'm not going to deal with you seriously, there’s no meaning in sparring anymore.”
“Still…….”
“Drasen Greatswordmanship is a one-hit kill with every strike. You learned it, so you should know well, right? Are you suggesting we, father and son, kill each other?”
That was an unexpected result for me as well.
‘I thought there would be more to learn.’
Father, the Knight of Gluttony, Ryan Drasen, exerts power that transcends his rank in a short-term decisive battle.
Especially back then, when he activated all of his beloved sword Slayer's spells, it was enough to tear the Behemoth to death.
That explosive increase in capacity was mysterious even to me, who had developed ‘Brute Strength’.
Of course, it wasn't that I gained absolutely nothing.
“I get that you are replacing physical energy consumption with mana. So you must have become a bit more advantageous in a long-term battle. But wouldn't your momentary explosive power have decreased by that much?”
“Yes? But……!”
“The essence of Drasen Greatswordmanship is not the calories you speak of, but grinding up one's life. Do not think you can take all the advantages by simply replacing energy, son.”
“Ah…….”
The moment I heard that teaching, the inside of my head tickled as I re-perceived the essence of the Drasen sword technique that I had forgotten.
A feeling that some inspiration was about to strike.
“The desperate determination to pour out one's life at the moment of the decisive battle. If you just don't forget that, you will be able to imitate it to some extent. Well, that technique called Brute Strength was fresh, but it ends exactly there.”
I couldn't disparage Father's words as just composure coming from the fact that it was a sparring match.
Even though it was said that I took advantage of his carelessness, I was the one who made even that Lightning Blade Sword suffer a setback, so I was confident I could easily overcome a one-stage difference.
However, a way to beat my father, who was in front of my eyes right now, did not readily come to mind.
‘I have no choice but to drag out time and go for a long-term battle. Even so, if Father rushed in to kill…… I would die.’
Recalling Father's power tearing apart the Behemoth, I even thought that I might have worried excessively about Drasen.
‘That’s a relief.’
Now, only one worry remained.
“Veil Lifting, you definitely know how to do it, right?”
Just the fact that Father was also handling mana as a temporary measure with the power of an artifact.
“Yes, it is possible if I mobilize Slayer. The energy consumption is high, though……. Ha, given the case of that guy yesterday, I have to inspect the low-grade mercenaries now too.”
“Only do it when hiring new ones. Since I checked everyone currently here.”
“Okay, son. Welcome back home.”
“……Yes.”
Hearing Father’s belated welcome, I felt a renewed sense of pride and peace.
At least until the wall was completed, I hoped nothing else would happen.
Enough to inadvertently come up with such a thought.
Like that, a week of time passed quickly.
I enjoyed the long-awaited peace in my own way.
* * *
Huff, huff.
Breath filled up to the chin, and the heat boiling up from the whole body heated the inside of the armor.
It was a pleasant heat.
At least for me.
“No, clearly, you said, you would rest. But, this, what on earth, for how many days…….”
Wheeze.
The back of my neck felt inexplicably ticklish at Rauel’s rough breathing following from behind with a slight distance.
‘It’s because I have a lot of distracting thoughts. Especially because of you…….’
Instead of the truth I couldn't confess, I shouted loudly.
“It’s boring if I just stay put!”
Naturally, that answer made the follower vent her anger.
“Does it make sense, to hunt demonic beasts, just because you are bored!?”
Clatter.
The iron chain that stretched out long to the front and wrapped around the sturdy tree trunk of the northern mountain range pulled my body up 100 meters into the air at once.
“It makes sense! Make money! Eliminate potential threats too!”
Of course, in exchange, a deep wound was gouged into the tree trunk with a crunch sound, but.
The pang of conscience created by that minor destruction of nature couldn't offset the thrill of flying through the air.
“Awoooo!”
There are no buildings to compensate for here!
Feeling the thrill of the Chainman, which I had to seal away, I cut through the air and extended the chain again toward a tree visible far in the front.
“Just! Only you! Comfortably……!!!”
Smirk.
While letting Rauel’s complaints, which were slowly starting to become rough, go in one ear and out the other, I examined the surroundings.
Right now, they had crossed the valley of the mountain range adjacent to Drasen for quite a while, passing through the zones of goblins and gnolls, and even the area of the Snow Trolls.
We were on the way to the habitat of the ‘Ice Kracap’ pack, where Father would come for a solo hunt around autumn to reduce their numbers originally.
Those monsters possessing cold demonic energy were my target.
‘The exoskeleton, including the shell, are all sold expensively as materials for artifacts or magical tools…….’
And with that level of hardness, it would be greatly helpful in perfectly completing the ‘Chain Devourer’ that was gradually nearing completion recently.
At that moment when I extended the chain again thinking about their usefulness.
“Muno-nim!!!!”
Along with a voice that sounded particularly urgent, a crisis that rang through my mind approached.
‘Metal, demonic energy, both? No way……. Heup!?’
Mocking my senses, a ‘Black Arrow’ that flew narrowing the distance of hundreds of meters in an instant hit my head directly while I was floating in the air.
Boom!