—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
As I shot out like a cannonball, I bounced once off a pile of stones, and two more times on the floor, rolling and tumbling.
After that ordealI, I finally managed to settle down.
The pile of stones I bounced off seemed to constitute the gate at the abandoned dungeon.
Seriously, no bullshit, I thought I was going to die!
“Wha, what the hell were those bastards trying to bring in?”
A bomb?
Was that possibly a bomb?
Barely managing to gather my still-ringing ears and head which was spinning from the impact, I turned to look at the gate.
It was in the midst of collapsing while emitting very unstable sparks.
Perhaps it was due to the dizziness, but the gate felt so far away.
“Oh my goodness! Egga-sir! Are you alright?”
Judging by the fact that she was the only one addressing me formally, it must have been Rellie.
She seemed greatly worried about me, who was trembling all over from the aftershock of the collision.
“Ah, I think I’m a little bit not okay, but there doesn’t seem to be any major damages…”
“No way, how can there be no major damage! Do you even realize that your hands and feet are shaking right now?!”
“We, well, since I bounced off the rubble th, three times, this much is within expectations…”
“This guy is so disoriented right now that he doesn’t even know how far he flew.”
“That’s not what’s important right now! Yekaterina! Don’t lift him! If he hit his head, moving him carelessly could be dangerous!”
In the end, it was after receiving Rellie’s emergency treatment and the gate completely losing its function that I regained my senses.
And only then did I realize that I had been thrown all the way from the gate to the entrance of the chapel.
I don’t know how big the explosion was, but to fly this far just from the shockwave…
If I hadn’t been fully enhanced with mana, my life might have been in danger.
“What the hell happened on the other side?”
Although there weren’t many external injuries, Gaendal, who had earlier generously offered his potion for free just in case, made me want to give an immediate answer to most things.
But it was inevitable to ponder over what to say and what to filter out, including the strange sensations I had experienced this time.
For now, I decided to explain only about the demons on the other side, the surrounding scenery I roughly remembered, and the giant sphere that was suspected to be a bomb.
I completely cut out the parts related to mana.
“I think it was an army… Because there were quite a lot of demons. There were no buildings or anything around, it was just like somewhere in the middle of a forest. It seemed like they had set up tents and established a campsite… but it didn’t seem like it was therefor just a day or two. Still, I can’t say for sure.”
“They had even dug trenches, and they were close to completing the basic construction of fortifications. However, considering the environment, the demons’ appearance was quite neat for having stayed there for several months.”
“I don’t know if they made it there or transported something they had already made, but it seemed like the demons’ objective was to bring the object that caused an explosion strong enough to send me flying over to this side using the gate. It was a fairly large sphere, but I don’t know the exact size since it was at a distance. Still, judging from the means to transport that sphere and the path leading to the gate, it was definitely at a level that could be brought into the chapel.”
“Oh my… Were they planning to detonate it here?”
“I don’t know. Whether it was just a medium for a different magical ability and it happened to explode, or if its original purpose was to detonate it as an explosive device.”
Come to think of it, even the small magic the mage was casting caused a considerable explosion as soon as it failed.
If the size of that sphere is proportional to the size of the magic…
Even if it was not a bomb, a tremendous explosion would occur.
“And it exploded when you threw your sword?”
From the perspective of Rellie, the only mage, there seemed to be some unsatisfactory aspects.
It made sense.
How could there be idiots who would let such a dangerous object shatter like a glass bottle just by throwing a single sword?
Surely, they must have protected it in various ways that I’m unaware of.
But it shattered.
And when I threw the sword, the demons weren’t mocking it, they looked at it with a desperate expression.
I now think that despair came not from the sword, but from the mana that had enveloped the sword.
It was as if I had imbued the sword with mana, like handling sword energy or sword force in martial arts novels.
As far as I know, there’s no such technique in this world.
I don’t know about weapons with incredibly good performance or enchanting magic, but strengthening tools using aura doesn’t exist.
At least within the realm of humans.
“That’s what happened.”
But I couldn’t say that I had imbued the sword with mana, so I could only give a dumbfounded answer.
“It doesn’t make sense in many ways, but Egga-sir has no reason to lie… Maybe the preparations weren’t complete… Or perhaps, by sheer luck, the barrier was released at that moment.”
I felt sorry for lying when there was a reason to do so.
After that, leaving behind Rellie, who was muttering to herself and coming up with various hypotheses, I got up and saw the traces of the battle they had fought.
There were only corpses that clearly showed who had killed them. There were no survivors.
Ginh stroked his long goatee and clicked his tongue.
“It’s a pity we couldn’t keep even one of them alive.”
“They were difficult to keep up with. I should say the compatibility was bad… Honestly, I was in a bit of danger. If Yekaterina hadn’t helped me, I would have been seriously injured.”
“Haha! Definitely! They were skilled at dodging and evading!”
Rellie probably didn’t just sit back and watch, but there didn’t seem to be any mages among the demons.
So in the end, it meant that three warriors had blocked four.
Even though they were specialized in coordinating with each other, the fact that it ended without anyone getting hurt was already a remarkable achievement.
“As for evidence… a few demon heads should suffice. The guild will investigate further anyway.”
“Now that the gate has been confirmed, they won’t be able to resist doing so.”
In the end, we couldn’t gather any information, but just seeing the other side of the gate and finding out the extent of those demons was a big gain.
We collected as much as we could, and returned to the campsite through the dark forest.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the corpses, we would have stolen their bedding and slept inside the dungeon, but it was too messy, so we had no choice.
“I think I can ask the spirits for help this time, so if any problems arise, I’ll wake up and let you know. Let’s sleep without keeping watch tonight.”
Perhaps because my body was in a wretched state, the spirits were showing more goodwill than usual, so I decided to gratefully accept their favor just this once.
Thanks to that, not only I, but also the entire party could be happy.
And so, we woke up in the morning and had a simple meal by the bonfire that hadn’t gone out all night despite not adding any additional firewood, realized the greatness of the spirits, and then returned to the capital.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The guild provided us with many conveniences after we had returned.
Upon receiving the report of the incident, Engrim prepared many things for us.
From the bathhouse to meals, and he even offered a service to have guild members take care of equipment repairs and such on our behalf during that time.
“This much is nothing compared to the great work you have done for us. It was about to become a much more serious problem than we had expected, but you excellently prevented it. Clearly, even without us saying it, it was at a level where additional rewards will be given.”
Indeed, it was no small feat to have prematurely put an end to an incident that almost caused a massive explosion near the capital.
Above all, considering that level of explosion occurred in what was clearly demon territory, the damage to the demons must have been substantial as well.
Moreover, since they were the ones who created and protected such a thing, they were probably an important unit, so if the connection is proven, we might be able to easily receive an additional gold coin or two.
Since all of us were intelligent enough to anticipate that, we smiled and enjoyed eating and drinking to our heart’s content, truly having a party without any regrets.
“Eldmia! I really hope we can take on a request together again next time! I’m not just saying this, I can’t remember the last time I met a warrior who knew how to act as a scout!”
Gaendal, who proved that his nickname as a weapon master was separate from his alcohol tolerance, was flushed red from head to toe.
Yet he kept drinking at Ginh’s pace and made the suggestion.
Being a scout comes with the pressure of having to learn skills like tracking in addition to fighting, and the ability to make the party members comfortable or drive them to the edge, so scouts are rare.
Naturally, scouts who can properly fulfill their role are even rarer.
Usually, they just patch together the scouting role based on each person’s experience and make do with it.
As a result, when there is someone like Gaendal who can properly carry out the role of a scout, the weight naturally shifts to them.
Even if they have to pay extra, they come to rely on them, so it seems he had gone through a lot of hardship.
“It’s not like I can frequently take on such big requests due to my circumstances. I can’t give you a definite answer, but I’d be more than happy to whenever the opportunity arises.”
Even from my perspective, as a devotee of the teachings of the great sage Zirobo, who said that when five people gather, one of them is bound to be trash, this party was perfect.
In the first place, it’s really not easy for adventurers to coordinate well in a hastily formed party.
Even if Engrim diligently analyzed and pieced together the first step, the uncertainty factor cannot be ignored.
But since it ended so cleanly and without burden, even if luck was involved, the evaluation can only be generous.
“Don’t forget about sparring too! No! Let’s do it right now!”
“Stop talking nonsense and eat your meat.”
As Rellie stuffed meat into the mouth of Yekaterina, who was also almost as drunk as Gaendal, we laughed.
While working at the Ogatorf family and being an adventurer for over a year and a half, I had the most adventurer-like experience for the first time, which made me feel good too.
Yeah, life should have this kind of flavor, shouldn’t it?
I should mention it to Asirye too when I send a letter next time.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
