Part 5 of 8
I can’t hold back if it’s Master I’m fighting.
First, I’ll feint with magic.
I create a Light Sphere with Holy Light Magic and fling it toward him.
At the same time, I charge at him with the sword in hand.
It would be foolish to try to engage in a long-distance battle with the strongest mage in the world.
If I have any chance of beating him, it’s by shorten the distance between us and forcing a close-combat battle.
The only question is whether I can avoid his magic until then.
The Light Sphere crashes into Master’s outstretched hand.
I assumed he would cancel it out with magic or avoid it, so my eyes widen in surprise.
Just as he said, he’s giving me a head start as a handicap.
Without even blocking or dodging my attack.
It flashes into his palm—a direct hit.
But a moment later, he shakes out his hand as if nothing was ever there.
There’s not a scratch on him.
He’s wincing a little, but no more than if he had stubbed his toe.
It was only a feint, but I’m still shocked that he was able to take a direct hit from my magic with almost no damage at all.
Once again, I find myself questioning whether he’s really human.
But in that instant, I was able to close the distance between us.
Even if my magic won’t work, if my sword can reach, I have a chance!
“Hiyah!”
I swing down my sword with a shout, slicing through nothing but air.
Master is gone.
He literally transported away in an instant.
Space Magic is supposed to take a long time to use, but you’d never know from how quickly Master moved.
If he can get away from me with teleportation, then distance won’t make a bit of difference.
Master could easily teleport far enough away that I can’t reach him, then shoot magic at me from a long distance.
And even if I manage to cover that distance, he can just teleport away again.
I never had a chance to begin with.
But Master reappears far closer to me than I expected, perhaps because this is supposed to be training.
Right behind me.
Only about ten steps away—fairly close.
But those ten steps are much too far when fighting against Master.
He raises his staff.
Here it comes!
I jump to the side as fast as I can.
Immediately after, flames roar through the area where I was standing seconds before.
Any ordinary person would’ve likely been burned away to the bone.
Most frightening of all, that was just a beginner spell, Fireball.
Usually, the power of a spell doesn’t differ much depending on who uses it.
High stats might make it a bit more powerful, but it wouldn’t be a big enough difference to be visible at a glance.
Even if the caster’s stats were ten times higher than average, that wouldn’t make the spell ten times more powerful. It’s traditionally more of an indicator of whether they can use more advanced spells.
If someone’s stats are around a certain amount, then they’ll likely be able to use a corresponding level of magic.
In some cases, if a person’s stats are too low, a spell might backfire even if the user knows the skill.
Magic stats are a quick way to understand that—or at least they were.
Unfortunately, Master has rendered that knowledge completely useless.
With his stats that defy logic, he’s figured out a way to use more magic power than necessary for previously known spells, increasing the power of the spell itself.
With this new breakthrough, now one’s magic stats really can determine how strong a spell will be.
And of course, Master has the highest magic stats of anyone in the world.
In his hands, even beginner spells are far stronger than a massive magic spell unleashed by an entire group of lesser mages!
Even my Holy Magic barrier wouldn’t be able to block it completely.
And yet…
“Ah!”
As I dodge the Fireball, Master’s staff swivels to point toward me.
Yes, Fireball is a beginner spell.
Even with its power increased, it’s still quick to use and requires little energy.
In other words, he can use it at a breakneck rate!
I break into a run.
A wave of heat hits my face, evaporating my sweat.
Am I sweating from the heat or from pure fear? Even I can’t say for sure.
All I know is that if I stop moving, my entire body will be engulfed in flames.
So I keep pumping my legs as fast as I can to dodge his spells.
But running around like this isn’t enough.
Just as I thought earlier, if I have any chance of winning, it’s by forcing a close-combat battle.
I have to get closer to him somehow, or I won’t even have that slim chance.
I shoot a Light Sphere at the next Fireball that comes my way.
The nodules of magic crash into each other, exploding with a roar.
Canceling each other out—or not quite.
My magic is pushed back a little, so the explosion flies in my direction.
He’s overtaken an advanced Holy Light Magic spell, the weapon of the hero, with a beginner’s spell.
What an amazingly powerful person.
But I managed to get one step closer to him by using the Light Sphere to deflect his magic.
One down, nine to go!
I jump into the air to avoid the blast.
Another Fireball comes flying toward me in midair.
Now!
I use a skill—Dimensional Maneuvering!
An invisible foothold forms below my feet, and I use it to jump off and dodge the Fireball.
Master’s Fireballs move quickly and create a larger explosion when they hit their target.
If they hit their target.
He’s been blanketing the surrounding area in flames by aiming his attacks at me on the ground, but he can’t do that if I’m in the air.
And no matter how fast they might be, they’re not impossible to dodge if I know they’re coming.
But I’m still inexperienced with the Dimensional Maneuvering skill, and the same move won’t work on Master twice, so this was a one-time-only strategy.
Still, that’s two more steps now.
Between the one I gained first and the two from Dimensional Maneuvering, that leaves seven more steps!
As soon as I land on the ground, another Fireball comes flying toward me.
I deflect his Fireball with my own magic again, resulting in another shock wave.
But I reduce it with my barrier and take another step forward.
Six steps left!
I jump to the side to dodge the next Fireball.
At the same time, I use my ace-in-the-hole spell.
“Hrmmm?!”
Master exclaims for the first time since the fight started.
To him, it should look like there are suddenly three of me.
It’s an illusion created with Light Magic.
I run forward along with the two fakes from three different directions.
Even Master can’t shoot a spell in three directions at the same time—at least, I hope not.
“Aren’t you tricky.”
A Fireball shoots out and hits one of the three.
But the other two keep running toward him without slowing down.
Five more steps.
Another Fireball strikes the second one.
Four more steps.
“You’re the real one, eh? You got lucky.”
A third Fireball hits the last one standing.
“What?!”
Then Master exclaims in genuine confusion for the first time.
Three more steps.
Master freezes in surprise for only a second.
But that second buys me yet another step.
Two steps left!
“But how?!”
To tell the truth, the first Fireball actually hit the real me.
Master commented that I was lucky, but I was anything but in this case.
No, I guess it was probably my master’s impeccable instincts rather than luck.
I’m sure he saw through the fakes in an instant and shot at the real me on purpose.
But when the other two kept moving after that one was hit, he must have assumed that he’d been mistaken.
Even when I took a direct hit, I kept moving the two fakes forward.
And while he was distracted by them, I closed in.
I decided to take the Fireball without dodging because I figured I could withstand one direct hit.
Honestly, I regret it—it was very hot and painful, and still is.
But in exchange, I bought myself this chance.
I can’t let it go!
“Take this!”
A Fireball shoots toward me at point-blank distance.
I don’t have any way to dodge it, but…
“Yaaah!”
I charge the borrowed magic sword, cloaking it in flame.
Then I swing the sword to deflect the Fireball.
The flames of the spell and the sword clash, igniting a massive explosion.
It burns! I can’t breathe!
But I have to keep moving forward!
Just one more step!
“Huh?”
I blurt out a foolish exclamation.
I thought I had one step left to go.
But before I take it, Master is already standing in front of me.
“Did you think you could win if you got close enough to me?”
His staff swings down on me.
It’s so unexpected that I react too late.
It wasn’t particularly fast, but the staff attack still strikes me right in the face.
The pain is nothing compared to that Fireball, but I still stumble backward.
That proves to be my undoing.
A Fireball nails me.
The next thing I know, I’m looking up at the sky.
“Well?”
“I was just one step away…”
I grumble without really thinking.
“Don’t be stupid. If I was fighting seriously, it would’ve been over before you even took a single step.”
Of course. Master was actually still holding back.
He used only Fireballs, and even those were restrained enough that a direct hit didn’t instantly kill me.
“Do you now realize how weak you are, boy?”
“…Yes.”
I still can’t come anywhere near beating Master.
Considering that he used Teleport only that one time, I’m sure I wouldn’t have won even if I had closed those ten steps.
If he really felt he was in danger, he could’ve easily teleported away again.
“Listen, Julius. Was Tiva weak?”
“No!” I exclaim immediately.
“But this enemy was still able to kill him easily. If you were there, the only difference would be one more dead body.”
“Maybe, but—”
“Let me ask you again. Do you realize how weak you are?”
This time, I can’t bring myself to answer.
Because I realize now just how deep the weakness he’s speaking of goes.
Even now, I’m sure I don’t fully understand it.
“Tiva fought someone stronger than himself and lost. That’s all there is to it. Just like the thrashing I gave you a moment ago.”
I chew the inside of my lip as he goes on.
“Do you understand? The weak can never defeat the strong. You told me Tiva wasn’t weak. To you, I’m sure he didn’t seem that way. But the person he fought was even stronger than he was. That’s it.”
“You only say that so easily because you’re strong, Master!”
Of course Master wouldn’t lose.
He’s the strongest living human mage. Who could beat him?
But Master’s response catches me by surprise.
“No. I am weak. I might seem strong to you, but I’m still weak.”
At first I think he must be joking, but his expression is deadly serious.
“Listen closely, Julius. Humans are weak. Incredibly weak. Most humans are even weaker than I am, which is why they look at me and say that I’m strong. But I’m only human, too. I’m strong by human standards, but that’s all.”
These are the words of the strongest human mage.
“You know this, too, do you not? You’ve seen true strength. The Nightmare of the Labyrinth.”
The words bring to mind a hellish memory.
A battlefield in chaos, where people on both sides were dying nonstop.
The creature that appeared at the battle of Sariella and Ohts, the one called the “Nightmare,” was the personification of death itself.
“You mean even you couldn’t beat it, Master?”
“I think not. The difference between my strength and that master’s is even vaster than that between yours and mine.”
I couldn’t lay a finger on Master in our fight, and he says he wouldn’t be able to beat the Nightmare.
“Apprentice number one. You must come to grips with your own weakness. Know that there are some foes in this world that humans cannot touch, even the hero. You must learn to recognize that some things are impossible.”
In a way, those words are incredibly painful.
I’ve been through near-death experiences at Master’s hands many times, including our fight just now.
But somehow, his words are even more painful.
“Then what am I supposed to do?! Why did I…? Why did Mr. Tiva have to…? Why?!”
Even I don’t know what I was trying to say.
Maybe the words didn’t have any meaning at all.
My grief over Mr. Tiva’s death was simply spilling out of my mouth.
Abruptly, I realize there are tears streaming from my eyes.
“There are many things in this world we can do nothing about. But we still must live as best we can. There was nothing we could do about Tiva’s death, but he lived with all his might. If you sit around bemoaning the impossible, you cheapen Tiva’s life, you know.”
“But…!”
“For now, don’t worry about anything. Just let it out.”
Master embraces me gently, patting my head.
Unable to hold back any longer, I sob into his chest.
“People live and someday die. We cannot change that. Nor can we choose how we will die. But what we can choose is how we live. It’s not how he died that’s important but how he carried himself in life. Thinking about what you can do for the dead, what you could’ve done for the dead, is nothing but a form of arrogance. All the living need do is grieve the dead and remember how they lived.”
After I cried for a while, Master brought us back to the temple, and we said our final good-byes to Mr. Tiva at his casket.
There were others pressing close to the casket with their eyes reddened like mine, including Yaana and Aurel, the apprentice Master took on after me.
“Master?”
“Hrmmm?”
“I want to live like Tiva did, in a way that people will cry for me when I die.”
“Then go ahead. You have every freedom to do so.”
“Right.”
“But remember to learn your own weakness first. If you can’t discern between what you can and can’t do, you’ll just recklessly hasten your death. There’s no point living the way you wish if you don’t live long.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Although I can’t help feeling that you’re going to be reckless anyway.”
“I won’t.”
“Hrm. All right, this is an order from your master. You are forbidden to die before me. Understand? And when I die, you have to cling to my casket and cry even harder than you did today.”
“Um, I don’t know…”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
I can’t tell him that I can’t imagine him ever dying, and definitely not that I don’t think I’d be able to cry even more than I just did.
But if that day ever does come, I’m sure I will cry at least as much as I did today.
“I just hope that day never comes,” I say instead.
“It will. People die sooner or later. The only way you won’t see that day is if you disobey my order. And you wouldn’t want to be a useless apprentice who doesn’t even follow his master’s orders, eh?”
“Right. Of course.”
That day, Mr. Tiva taught me about death, and Master taught me how to live.
Deep in my heart, I vowed to live as heroically as Mr. Tiva did, until the day I die.
THE PONTIFF AND THE REINCARNATION SPY
“Testing, testing, one-two-three. Hello? Can you hear me, Pontiff?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Nice! Looks like step one is a success, then.”
“Indeed. It appears that your Unlimited Telephone skill is capable of connecting for conversation even through the elves’ irritating barrier.”
“Guess that’s a unique skill for ya. I gotta say, I thought it was a pretty lame skill at first, but it’s actually pretty impressive.”
“Well, it is your special privilege as a reincarnation. It was bound to be an exceptional skill.”
“So I succeeded in getting caught by the elves on purpose and infiltrating their village. Now what’s the plan?”
“You will live there normally with the other reincarnations. Please contact me on a regular basis so you can report what’s going on inside.”
“You got it.”
“I’m sincerely sorry to give you such a dangerous role.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m cooperating with you of my own free will. It just happens to be the best way to save my friends, that’s all.”
“Well, please do be careful. Until the day we come there ourselves, we cannot interfere with what goes on inside. It’s best you assume that no one will be able to help you, no matter what happens.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll be extra careful so it doesn’t come to that.”
“Thank you.”
“Oops, looks like we’re about out of phone time. I’ll contact you again soon.”
“Very well. Be careful.”
With that, the call ends.
The person on the other end was the reincarnation who was recently captured by the elves.
I had him deliberately let the elves catch him so that he can be our spy on the inside of the elf village, sending us information on a regular basis.
It’s all possible thanks to his Unlimited Telephone skill.
Just as I hoped, it works even through the barrier that protects the elf village, unlike regular telepathy.
As our agent on the inside, he’ll be in some danger, but now I finally have a means of knowing what goes on in the elf village.
It’s been my dearest wish for many long years to defeat the elves, specifically Potimas.
Thus far, the barrier around their home has always prevented me from even coming close.
We’ve found several of the teleport gates that the elves utilize to travel in and out, but those can transport only a few people at a time.
There’d be no chance of a successful invasion with such low numbers.
And after we’d used a teleport gate once, the elves would be sure to destroy it, so we could never use it again.
No, it was important to wait for our chance to launch an all-out attack on the elf village.
But time dragged on without such a chance ever arising. I never even had any way to get inside information about their homeland.
Now, I don’t know why Potimas is confining reincarnations in the elf village.
But whatever the reason, it finally created a chance to secret people other than elves into the elf village.
I do not know if this will lead to an opportunity for an all-out attack, but it will certainly allow me to keep a better eye on their activities.
…However, I never imagined the cost of getting him into the elf village would be so high.
To think that we would lose Sir Tiva…
A villager happened to see our reincarnation being kidnapped and reported it to Sir Tiva.
And the man has always been quick to act.
If Sir Tiva had only hesitated over his decision a little longer, I might have been able to slow him down and perhaps prevent this outcome.
But he made a swift decision and dived into action immediately.
Ironically, it was his exceptional leadership that caused this tragedy.
Without Sir Tiva, the heart of their military, the empire will fall into chaos.
The anti-human-trafficking force, too, was held together by Tiva. It will be difficult to keep that going for much longer now.
Fortunately, they’ve already succeeded in crushing all the major bases of the organizations.
Potimas has made little movement since then, too.
Once they destroy the next base, all that will be left are small-time bandit groups that could easily be handled by local knights and such.
I suppose then it will be best to disband the force.
The hero has matured quite nicely, too.
He’s still far from being a match for Lady Ariel, but that is inevitable. No hero could ever compare to her.
However, he shall at least need to become strong enough to defeat an average demon.
Lady Ariel is an ally when it comes to the fight against Potimas, but at the end of the day, she is still the Demon Lord and an enemy in her own right.
Potimas and Lady Ariel alike are far beyond the means of most any human.
Yet somehow, we have to face them.
It is all for the sake of humanity’s survival.
For that is the sole reason for my existence.
Ughhh, I’m sooooooo mad!
Hmm?
What’s this?
A bone?
What about it?
You want me to gnaw on it?
What, to get some calcium?
Um, no, I think I’ll pass on that.
H-hey!
Don’t give me those puppy-dog eyes!
All right already!
You just want me to gnaw on it, yeah?!
Hrmmm? It’s surprisingly soft, actually.
It’s not particularly tasty, but it’s not inedible, either.
…Hey, you’re the one who gave it to me. Why do you look so disturbed?
JULIUS, AGE 13: PROGRESS
It’s been several days since we held a funeral for Mr. Tiva and the others.
Our force has set out on its final mission.
Mr. Tiva, who was really what held the force together, is gone, and this is the last major organization base that we’ve found. For these reasons, the pontiff has announced that the force will be disbanded after this mission.
There are still many mysteries surrounding the human-trafficking organization, and we don’t know where most of the kidnapped victims have gone.
But it would be difficult to keep searching at this point, and since we’ve destroyed most of the bases, there shouldn’t be any more victims in the future.
We’re not satisfied with that conclusion, of course.
But somewhere in the organization is the villain who killed Mr. Tiva.
Just as my master said, I’m not strong enough to defeat that person right now.
Even if I was to stubbornly insist on chasing down the organization, I’d only die a pointless death if I wound up facing off against that person.
So instead, I just have to do whatever I can.
And that first step is the force’s final mission.
We gained control over the last base easily.
The force’s motivation was higher than ever, not least because it was a chance to avenge Tiva and the other soldiers who lost their lives.
And the enemy’s morale was strangely low.
When we interrogated some of the captured bandits afterward, we learned it was because the organization representatives had suddenly stopped coming.
Normally, when the bandits capture someone, an organization person will appear out of nowhere and take the victim away, giving the criminals money or goods in exchange. But now that they stopped showing up, the criminals weren’t getting paid, which hurt their morale.
The organization must have decided to stop their kidnapping activities.
So while we weren’t able to figure out the source of the organization, there won’t be any more kidnappings.
Although, since we never found out where the people who’ve already been captured were taken, it’s hard to call this a draw.
However, as a silver lining, we were at least able to rescue the people who were captured by the last base. Since the organization members never came to get them, they were simply being held there.
Fortunately, they weren’t treated too poorly, in case the organization came to pick them up.
We’d managed to save people in the process of destroying bases a handful of times before, but this was a much higher number than usual.
When we brought them back to their home villages and towns, their family and friends wept and embraced them.
For all the time I spent on this force, that was what I wanted to see more than anything else.
It took until the very last mission, but when I was finally able to see that and know that we’d saved someone, I quietly cried tears of relief.
When we returned to the Holy Kingdom of Alleius, we were promptly treated to a celebratory banquet.
It was a modest affair, held only with the force members and their families. The pontiff kindly provided the hall for us.
There was plenty of food and drink for all, and the force ate and drank without reserve, savoring every morsel.
Once this banquet ended, the soldiers would all go back to their respective homelands.
This jumbled mix of people from different nations would probably never be gathered in one place again.
So they all cut loose and celebrated to their hearts’ content.
Although unfortunately, since Hyrince, Yaana, and I aren’t old enough to drink, we couldn’t quite keep up with everyone’s enthusiasm.
Still, it was fun.
At the peak of the excitement, as more and more people drink themselves under the table, a man sits down across from me.
“It’s over, eh?”
“Yes.”
It’s Mr. Jeskan, the adventurer.
He’s had a considerable amount of liquor himself, but the only effect I can see is a slight redness in his cheeks.
“Oh, where’s Mr. Hawkin?”
“Ah, he’s passed out drunk over there somewhere.”
Mr. Jeskan points across the room, where a group of drunks are piled unconscious on top of one another.
How in the world did that happen?
And I don’t see Mr. Hawkin in there anywhere. Is he underneath them?
“Won’t he get crushed under there?” says Hyrince, aghast. “Physically speaking, I mean.”
“Ha-ha-ha! He was a famous thief, despite all appearances. He’s not soft enough to get crushed that easily.”
Mr. Jeskan chuckles.
“So, Mr. Hero, the force is disbanding as of today. What will you do after this?”
“…I think I’m going to travel to different places and try to help people who are in trouble.”
I saw many different nations in my time with the force, but the human-trafficking organization and their thugs weren’t the only cause of people’s suffering.
Monsters, poverty, discrimination, dangerous environments…
They all had different problems, but in one way or another, we never saw a single place that you could truly call peaceful.
“I know there probably isn’t much that I can do. Most of their problems are probably beyond me. But still, I want to do whatever I can to help people.”
“How admirable…!”
Yaana clasps her hands together and gazes at me emotionally.
“Very admirable, indeed.”
Jeskan chuckles as he repeats Yaana’s remark.
However, unlike Yaana, I can’t help feeling like he’s making fun of me a little.
“Excuse me, is there something you’d like to say to Sir Hero?!” Yaana demands of him indignantly.
“My hometown was destroyed by bandits.”
At this sudden declaration, Yaana falls back with a gasp.
“It was a tiny settlement with just a few families, so small you could barely even call it a village. I didn’t want to spend my whole life in a place like that, so I ran off and became an adventurer when I was still a kid.”
Jeskan takes a gulp of his drink as he tells us about his past.
“The rest wasn’t exactly dramatic. I heard through the grapevine that my hometown had been attacked by bandits who slaughtered everyone and stole every last item worth a damn. Not like I hunted down those bandits and got my revenge or anything, either. By the time I heard about it, some other adventurer had already found their stronghold and wiped ’em out.”
“That’s, erm…that must have been awful.”
“Nah, not really.”
Yaana offers her sympathies, but Mr. Jeskan lightly shakes his head.
“A shabby place like that with no defenses was bound to get destroyed by monsters or bandits eventually. That’s why I ran off in the first place. When I heard it was gone, all I really thought was Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Looking shocked, Yaana opens her mouth, but Jeskan continues.
“But I did learn something that day: People are evil deep down. They’ll be as ruthless as they have to be to save their own skin. That goes for the robbers who destroyed my hometown—they were willing to murder and steal for their own sakes. And it goes for me, too. I abandoned my home so that I could survive. And even when it was destroyed, I didn’t feel a thing.”
Mr. Jeskan speaks without a hint of sarcasm, as if he’s simply stating the truth.
“You saw the guys our force was fighting, didn’t you? They had the same blood that runs in our veins. But they did things so heartless that it was easy to forget.”
The people we were fighting are human just like us.
Sure, our circumstances are different, but we’re all people.
In other words, if our positions had been reversed, we might’ve walked the same path of evil—because we’re all only human.
“People aren’t as noble as we’d like to think. But you still want to use your power to try to help them, Mr. Hero?”
Jeskan turns to me.
I already know the answer.
“Of course.”
I’ve decided to live my life in a way I can be proud of.
I want to be a noble person like Mr. Tiva, the kind of person people will mourn when I die.
Quietly, I touch my scarf.
“I learned in my time with the force how easily people can turn to the path of evil, too. But that’s exactly what my power is for.”
Humans stain their hands with evil deeds all too easily.
So I just have to make sure it doesn’t come to that.
“I am the hero, a symbol of hope for the people. An emblem of justice. And the enemy of evil. I’ll become the hope of humanity and show them that I’ll never let evil win.”
“So you’ll stop evil from ever happening?”
“Yes.”
“Do you really think that’s possible?”
“I won’t know until I try. But I certainly won’t give up before I’ve even started. If people have grown anxious because the previous hero hid himself away, then it’s my job as the current hero to quell their fears.”
“So you’re cleaning up the last guy’s mess?”
“I am here. I am the hero. That’s what I want to let everyone know. As long as I do that, I’m sure the future will be full of hope.”
“Ha…ah-ha-ha-ha! What a gem!”
Mr. Jeskan bursts out laughing, as if he can’t hold it back any longer.
But this time, it doesn’t sound like he’s making fun of me at all.
“So this is the hero! Yeah, I get it now. You’re the hero, all right!”
He bangs his glass on the table a few times as his laughter continues.
“…Hey, Sir Hero.”
Then, when the laughter finally subsides, Mr. Jeskan looks at me.
And calls me “Sir Hero.”
He was calling me “Mr. Hero” up until now, so I feel as if this means he’s gained a new respect for me.
“I happen to know a skilled adventurer and a thief who’re out of a job as of today. Any chance you’d be interested in hiring ’em?”
“You mean…”
“Oh, right, the pay. How about we call it even for the right to see this hopeful future you’re talking about at your side?”
Mr. Jeskan grins at my surprised expression and raises his glass toward me.
I break into a smile and hold out my own cup to meet his.
“I believe we have a deal.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
I’ve gotten a good idea of Mr. Jeskan’s and Mr. Hawkin’s character through our time together in the task force.
At a glance, Mr. Jeskan might seem cynical and pragmatic, but moments like this show that he has a sense of justice and adventure deep down.
And as a former gentleman thief who stole for the sake of the poor, Mr. Hawkin is just as kind as his past would suggest.
Mr. Tiva once told me that I should gather companions who I can trust.
And I know I can trust Mr. Jeskan and Mr. Hawkin.
If they’re willing to join forces with me, I could wish for nothing better.
Thus, I gain two trustworthy new companions.
Incidentally, Mr. Hawkin learned of all this while he was recovering from a hangover and made his own headache worse by shouting in surprise.
Mm, bones!
Yeah, a girl could get addicted to this crunchy texture.
It even helps me feel a little less annoyed, or at least I’d like to think so.
Okay, that’s probably not true.
Goodness, what is wrong with those idiots?!
I understand Miss Class Rep, okay?
It’s her fiancé, after all.
I’d be steaming mad, too, if my fiancé was all over another girl.
But why are all the other girls so eager to jump on the bandwagon and bully me?!
What, because I’ve got a monopoly on the beloved idol of the class?
Yeah, right!
He’s the one who keeps bothering ME!
I don’t want anything to do with him, okay?!
I’m not interested in little kids!
Come back when you’re at least as tall and handsome as Merazophis!
Of course, that’s impossible, since Merazophis is the most handsome man in the world.
Ugh, I need more Merazophis time.
! Aha!
Mwa-ha-ha-ha!
I dodged it!
I finally dodged that damn thread!
I always, always get taken down with the first shot, but I finally dodged it!
Hey, wait a second!
I know it’s always been one against three, but it’s not fair if you team up on me from three different directions!
Stop that! Aaaah!
…Hey, isn’t this pattern basically rope bondage?
I don’t even want to know where you learned th… No, never mind, I guess there’s only really one possible culprit.
Why would she teach them something like that?!
And why does this sort of thing keep happening to me?!
Seriously, unbelievable!
JULIUS, AGE 14: YOUTH
“Yaaaah!”
Jeskan swings his ax down with a shout, lopping off the tentacle that was stretching toward him.
“Boss!”
Hawkin turns to help Jeskan, but his master shouts out to stop him.
“I’m fine! Stay close to Miss Yaana!”
“Hey! Yaana, stay behind me, no matter what!”
“Wehhh, okay!”
Yaana cowers behind Hyrince’s shield, her mouth drawn tightly.
“Ah!”
I cut down another tentacle, but they keep coming no matter how many we slice off.
We’re fighting a monster called a Boellero, which has long, snakelike tentacles. The seemingly endless tentacles attack with paralyzing barbs on the end; then it devours its helpless prey.
And for some reason, this monster especially prefers to attack young women.
So the tentacles keep shooting toward Yaana, the lone girl in our midst.
Hyrince blocks the tentacles with his shield, while Hawkin covers him.
As Yaana keeps the monster’s attention on her, Jeskan and I attack its main body.
At least, that was the plan—but it’s turning out to be tougher than expected.
The tentacles grow back as fast as we can cut them off, making it all but impossible to deal a finishing blow.
The core of the Boellero is a sphere, and the larger it is, the higher-level and more dangerous the monster will be.
The Boellero we’re fighting right now has a core easily twice the size of a human.
Considering that the average Boellero has a core around the size of a human head, that’s unbelievably large.
“How many humans must it have eaten to get so big?!”
Jeskan groans as he slices off another tentacle.
“No wonder the adventurers’ guild gave up on this thing!”
Defeating this Boellero was originally a job posted for members of the adventurers’ guild.
But all the adventurers they sent to fight it were soundly defeated, so now it’s fallen to us instead.
Adventurers make their living by defeating monsters and receiving reward money from the adventurers’ guild. If we were to stick our noses in and defeat all those monsters, we’d be depriving adventurers of their livelihood.
In order to avoid that, we only deal with monsters too strong for the local adventurers to handle or other special cases where the adventurers’ guild requests our involvement directly.
Which means that most of the requests that come our way are extraordinarily dangerous.
“Eeeek!”
Yaana screams and unleashes a Light Sphere spell toward the Boellero, but it’s thwarted by another tentacle before it reaches the core.
The stricken tentacle grows back at an astounding rate.
“Idiot! Stay behind us!”
“Aaaah!”
The tentacle rushes toward Yaana, but Hyrince jumps in front of her and blocks it with his shield.
His shield is large enough to cover his entire body, which is already large for his age.
Since we added the attacker Jeskan to our roster, Hyrince has chosen to become a defender, focusing on the shield instead of the sword.
Now he protects our healer, Yaana, and our supporter, Hawkin, with that shield.
“Not so fast!”
One of the tentacles tries to go around Hyrince’s shield to get at Yaana, but Hawkin’s knife slices it off.
Hawkin doesn’t boast as much battle power as most of us, but he’s definitely not weak.
He’s an expert in throwing knives, and I’ve been saved by a well-timed throw of his many times.
But Hawkin’s real value lies outside of battle.
His main role is supporting us in other ways, like getting supplies, gathering information, and formulating plans based on what he’s seen and learned.
He even hires bag carriers or pack animals for our luggage so that we can save our strength for battle.
It might sound like a modest job, but we can fight to the best of our ability only thanks to Hawkin.
Something about the way he works reminds me of Mr. Tiva.
“Hrm?! Tch!” Jeskan notices something and clicks his tongue. “An acid attack! My weapon’s ruined!”
Without any further hesitation, he flings the ax in his hand at the Boellero’s core.
It’s blocked by tentacles, of course.
But as it hits the floor, the ax emits a strange smoke, and the blade starts melting away.
“This thing can use acid, too?!”
Acid Attack is a dangerous skill that can destroy weapons and armor.
Equipment enhanced with the Energy Conferment skill doesn’t break easily, but an Acid Attack can damage it regardless.
Not only that, but it has its own unique resistance, so inexperienced adventurers who aren’t used to it can easily take a large amount of damage from the attribute.
“Try not to touch the mucus on the tentacles! It’ll melt right through!”
“Easy for you to say!”
Hyrince is desperately defending Yaana with his shield from the attacking tentacles.
He doesn’t have a moment to spare to worry about the mucus.
On closer inspection, his shield is emitting the strange smoke that Jeskan’s ax did.
This is bad.
We probably have a little longer before the thick shield breaks, but there’s not a moment to waste.
“Guys! Buy me a little time, please!”
“Got it!”
“Understood!”
Jeskan and Hyrince call out their acknowledgments immediately.
It’s been over a year since the anti-human-trafficking force was disbanded.
We’ve been traveling together to different nations, defeating monsters, taking down bandit hideouts the task force missed, and so on.
I think our teamwork has gotten very strong in the course of the past year.
Jeskan and I attack on the front lines, Yaana and Hawkin support us from the rear, and Hyrince stays in the middle to fend off attacks from the enemy depending on the situation.
Early on, I often had to depend on the older Jeskan, but lately, we’ve been in better sync.
We’ve even gotten closer off the battlefield and have started calling each other by name without any titles.
Knowing my dependable companions, I’m sure they’ll buy me the time I need!
Jeskan pulls out a spare scimitar and starts lopping off more tentacles.
A master of many weapons, he always carries several at any given time and can swap them out as needed. His ax is no longer usable, but he still has plenty of other weapons.
However, the situation is looking grim.
The hole I left in the front lines is difficult for Jeskan and Hyrince to completely cover.
Hawkin and Yaana are trying to back them up, but it’s obviously not enough.
“This is gonna put us in the red, but ya can’t make an omelet without breakin’ some eggs!”
Hawkin flings something toward the Boellero.
Whatever it is, it immediately explodes, freezing the tentacles over.
“Ha-ha! How d’ya like that?! Ice Bombs ain’t cheap, but it was worth it!”
A disposable magic item?!
One-use-only magic items like that are very expensive, primarily because there aren’t many artisans who can make them.
In exchange, though, their power is guaranteed.
The item Hawkin threw must have had an Ice Magic effect.
“”
The Boellero emits an ear-piercing shriek.
Its tentacles flail around wildly as it writhes in pain.
I can’t let this chance pass me by!
“Now!”
I unleash the spell I was forming in the time my friends bought for me: the Holy Light Magic spell Holy Light Spear.
Enhanced with extra magic power, just like Master taught me!
At my level of power, it takes me a while to create the spell, but Holy Light Magic is already powerful on its own, so it’s even more so when imbued with extra strength.
The Holy Light Spear forces its way past the tentacles easily and pierces the core!
Then the entire area fills with a burst of light.
“Good work, everyone.”
After completing the request, we gather to celebrate.
“Cheers!”
“““Cheers!”””
Jeskan and Hawkin toast with beer, the rest of us with fruit-flavored water.
“Ahhh… I never want to fight a Boellero again.” Yaana sips her drink and sighs deeply, unable to hide the disgust in her voice. “Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps.”
“Was it that bad? We didn’t really notice anything.”
“Of course it was!”
Yaana waves her glass at Hyrince, splashing a bit of fruit water.
“What are you saying? That repulsive creature was directing some horrible desires toward me. It was absolutely awful!”
Watching her tremble, I can’t help but feel like we wronged Yaana by bringing her along.
Boelleros are supposed to be one of the three greatest enemies to women in the world.
It’s said that their female victims are subjected to unspeakable things until they draw their last breath. Men are eaten immediately, yet women are kept alive.
There are rumors that some perverts like this horrible aspect of the creatures and will keep pet Boelleros in secret, deliberately supplying them with women.
Although in most cases, the would-be owners will fail to tame them and wind up eaten themselves.
Maybe the Boellero we fought escaped from similar circumstances.
Of course, I’m not interested in that kind of thing at all.
As a man myself, I guess I can see the appeal, but I would never say that and upset Yaana further.
“Why do such perverted things have to exist in this world? I wish it would all be destroyed!”
Clearly, she was so upset by the Boellero’s evil intentions that she’s saying some extreme things now.
“What are you talking about? If it wasn’t for perversion, none of us would be born. You realize you’re denying the reason you were made in the first place, right?”
Hyrince sounds shocked, but there’s a smirk at the corners of his lips.
He’s obviously teasing Yaana.
“That’s not true! Don’t compare the intercourse between a man and a woman in love with such foul proclivities. Love is far more sacred and noble!”
“PFFT!” Yaana’s exclamation makes Hawkin spit out the beer he was sipping.
He starts to cough and choke, so Jeskan claps him on the back a few times.
I know there’s no one else here except us, but I still don’t think it’s appropriate to shout about things like “intercourse” so loudly.
Yaana turns bright red, belatedly realizing the same thing.
“Yeah? So what specifically does this sacred and noble activity involve? Please teach us, O Great Saint.”
“Th-th-th-that’s—! That’s not!”
Ahhh, she’s playing right into Hyrince’s hands again.
Poor Yaana turns even redder, her head visibly spinning.
I know she’s not, but she looks drunk herself.
“I won’t say such things!”
“But you said it was sacred, right? Come on—you’re a holy woman. Can’t you educate poor, ignorant me?”
“Wehhh! Weeeehhh!”
I know it’s half Yaana’s own fault, but I still feel bad for her.
I’d better cut this short.
“Hyrince, that’s enough teasing for now.”
“Heh-heh. I guess so. Now that I know Yaana’s actually a perv, that’s good enough for me.”
“A p-p-p-p-pervert? Me?!”
“Well, you’re clearly obsessed with the subject, yeah? Otherwise you wouldn’t be overreacting like this.”
“Who’s obsessed?!”
“Now, now. It’s nothing unusual for youngsters our age to start taking an interest in that sort of thing. Besides, you said it yourself—it’s ‘sacred’ and ‘noble.’ So as a saint who serves the gods, you could even say it’s your duty to take an interest.”
“M-my duty?”
“Yeah, exactly. So there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Just be honest with yourself.”
“Honest with myself…”
“To start with, try thinking about the person you like and all your feelings for them!”
“……”
Yaana turns toward me with an oddly feverish gaze.
“Yaana. Yaana. He’s messing with you again.”
“Wha—?!”
Coming back to her senses, Yaana glares at Hyrince and sees that he’s clutching his stomach and shaking with the effort of holding in his laughter.
“HYYYYRIIIIIINCE?!”
Part 5 of 8