Chapter 0692 The Strange Tale of the Djinn Cult II
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The area around the Northwest Garrison Post had turned into a living hell.
Looking at it with an expression of utter displeasure was a blue-haired man with red eyes.
Beside him was a black-haired girl with golden eyes, her hair flowing all the way down her back.
The girl was smiling.
It was a vicious smile that did not suit her age at all.
Because her face was so beautiful, the malevolence stood out even more.
"Kukukuku. I can feel it. The blood of the humans who have fallen to the earth is becoming my flesh and blood."
Even the way she said it was completely out of place for a 'girl'.
"Raja-sama, I don't like picking on the weak."
The blue-haired man muttered with a sigh.
Raja, the black-haired girl, glared at him and snapped, almost as if she were biting him.
"I know that! That is why I came with you. If I let Dainan take command, it wouldn't become a massacre. The weak ones would be let go instead of killed!"
"Well, I can't exactly deny that, but…"
"Deny it dammit! Listen properly to my orders and kill them all! You are my retainer, aren't you?"
"I won't deny that."
"Exactly!"
The blue-haired man… Dainan, a retainer of the Djinn —gave a small shrug, while his black-haired master scowled in irritation.
"Dainan-sama, the outer forts have been secured."
"Good, then all that remains is the main post. Hmm? Come to think of it, we have not received any report from those attacking the post itself."
Blue-haired Dainan nodded once at his subordinate's report.
But then noticed that no report had come in about the Northwest Garrison Post itself.
He looked to the black-haired girl at his side and asked,
"Report has not come in… right?"
"The post itself probably can't be secured at all. The 'fragments' possessed by those fighters are what become the most powerful flesh and blood, and yet none of it is falling to the earth."
"I see…"
The cultist who had made the report and remained there listening to the conversation still could not understand any of it at all.
They had not been told that the black-haired girl in front of them, Raja, was in fact the very 'Djinn' they worshipped.
To the cultists, blue-haired Dainan was the leader guiding them.
"Well, I suppose I'll…"
"I'm going."
Raja cut off Dainan's words.
Dainan's face immediately became openly unwilling.
"Hey, Dainan, what is that face supposed to mean?!"
The black-haired girl, Raja, angrily pointed at Dainan's face.
"No, but…"
"Whatever you say, I'm going."
Saying that, Raja started walking off at once.
With a small shake of his head, Dainan followed behind her.
The Northwest Garrison Post was putting up a stubborn resistance.
All of the 'outer forts' defending the perimeter had already fallen, but the main post itself still seemed untouched.
The Djinn Cultists surrounded it, but unlike the outer forts, things were not going nearly so smoothly here.
The cultists had received the protection of the Djinn, and the Djinn's power flowed into them, making them stronger.
That said, at their core, they were still human.
It was not easy to take by force a place where trained soldiers were entrenched…
And there, their leader, the blue-haired Dainan, arrived.
Beside him was the black-haired girl he had brought with him.
Because the black-haired girl was usually deep inside the 'headquarters' and never came to the front lines like this, it was rare for the pair to appear together on a battlefield.
"How many are holed up inside?"
"About two thousand, I believe."
"Two thousand? There are still more than half of the Northwest Garrison Force left?"
Dainan said this with surprise.
"No wonder my power is not surging."
Raja muttered. Dainan was the only one who heard it.
"No, it should have grown quite a bit over these three months."
Dainan muttered under his breath.
"That is because the 'wall' of the 'Corridor' opened. I do not know who opened it, but thanks to that, the 'certain power' of the Central Countries has been flowing in."
"Power from the leylines, yes. Until then, I kept things going in bits and pieces —sending out Djinn bugs, taking Kumamo Castle, and obtaining 'fragments'—all so that Raja-sama would not disappear…"
"I know that! Once I am fully revived, I will reward you. You have grown stronger too, as my power has swelled, have you not?"
"Well, I won't deny that…"
Raja and Dainan were speaking in low voices, and due to the uproar in front of the Northwest Garrison Post, their conversation did not reach the cultists.
Even if it had, they would not have understood it.
"Good. Then I shall personally take the 'fragment of god' that flows through humans."
"Ah…"
Raja declared this with a malevolent smile, and Dainan let out a sigh.
Raja began walking slowly toward the post.
As she walked, she raised a hand into the air.
Then space split open.
She reached into the split space, grasped something, and pulled it out.
What she held was a curved sword as long as her own body.
If Ryo had been there, he would have shouted, "A Japanese sword!"
Though compared with a normal Japanese sword, it was almost twice as long.
"Admittedly, this body is too small to swing 'Hotaru'… but well, I suppose that is fine."
Laughing loudly, Raja approached the post.
The enormous Japanese sword seemed to be named 'Hotaru'.
By the way, Dainan followed about ten steps behind Raja.
He knew what was about to happen.
And he did not want to be close to it.
That said, he also thought being too far away was not ideal.
Of course, he did not think Raja would be injured.
Even if she was still far from fully revived, he knew that no human could possibly harm her.
Outwardly, Raja was unmistakably a girl.
Normally, if such a child approached, someone would surely challenge her.
"Who are you?" or "Don't come any closer!"…those kinds of voices should have been heard.
But no such voices came from the post.
The Northwest Garrison Force recognized her as an enemy wielding a huge sword.
Dozens of arrows flew toward Raja as she approached step by step.
However, every single one missed.
If there had been a careful observer, they would have noticed that even arrows on a direct-hit course curved away before reaching Raja.
Yes, as though the path the arrows should have flown along had been distorted.
If Ryo had been there, he might have understood that the space itself had been warped.
But the Northwest Garrison Force did not think that way.
They assumed the archers had simply aimed poorly and that if they aimed properly next time, they would hit.
A second volley.
The result was the same.
"What the hell!"
"What is happening?"
Even the garrison troops could not help but become shaken.
Something dangerous was approaching.
They were forced to understand that, whether they liked it or not.
That dangerous being reached the large front gate of the post.
"Hmph."
It only took a single stroke.
Raja brought her great sword down in a diagonal slash.
With that single blow, the large front gate was cut into two.
Without offering any resistance at all.
After that, it was simply a massacre.
Every time Raja advanced, soldiers' heads were sent flying.
Blood gushed out.
Raja walked through the red fountains as though enjoying herself.
Dainan, following ten steps behind her as her retainer, did not get splashed with blood.
To be honest, he did not particularly like human blood.
It was sticky, and if it got on his clothes, it would not come out even after washing.
"Raja-sama's clothes are going to have to be thrown away again…"
Thinking such things, he could not help but sigh.
"That is why I did not want you following me."
The cultists were human.
They had to be fed.
For that, money was needed… and while they now had a stockpile so vast it could almost be called inexhaustible, it had not always been easy to get to this point.
Dainan was a worrier.
The fountain show ended after about ten minutes.
"That was pleasant."
Covered head to toe in blood, Raja said this with a smile that was both vicious and alluring.
"Did you gain a little strength as well?"
Dainan asked with a sigh.
"Do you want to know? Then I shall share the power I obtained with you."
The instant Raja said that…
"Ugh!"
A voice involuntarily escaped from Dainan's mouth.
It was a groan of agony, but…
"Fuhahahahaha. This is incredible… this is incredible, Raja-sama."
The Dainan who had looked so troubled a moment ago was gone.
In his place stood a Djinn's retainer wearing a malevolent smile, exactly as befitted Raja's follower.
"I can feel my strength surging."
"As it should, yes?"
Raja nodded with satisfaction at Dainan's words.
The 'fragments of god' possessed by the four thousand soldiers of the Northwest Garrison Force, who had experienced many battles, were in some sense of a higher purity than that of ordinary people.
Both Raja and Dainan, who had lived long lives, knew that.
But this time, the power of the 'leylines' flowing in from the Central Countries had combined with it, creating a synergistic effect greater than anything they had experienced before.
"While the Corridor was closed, the leylines must have been building up. For these three months, they have been pouring in at an incredible rate. And on top of that, this gathering of 'fragments of god'… astonishing."
"Wouldn't you say Raja-sama's full revival is near?"
"Yes, absolutely. Kukukuku."
And thus, the Northwest Garrison Post was reduced to ashes.
The news of the annihilation of the Northwest Garrison Force reached Farafao Village at noon the next day.
A man from Juraju City had come to bring the news.
When the villagers heard the report, not a single one could say a word.
In the middle of that silence, the first to speak was Ronja.
"Is Juraju City… safe?"
"Yes, the city is untouched. Those Djinn cult bastards attacked only the post and slaughtered the soldiers there. Someone else should have already run to report it to Count Fanran."
"Count Fanran… you mean the lord who holds territory to the east? That is quite far away."
"Well, yeah. But someone has to be informed somewhere…"
Both Ronja, who asked, and the messenger who answered understood that it would take several days for the report to arrive.
It was that far away.
That was precisely why the Northwest Garrison Force—four thousand troops, huge for a frontier outpost—had been stationed there.
And yet it had been destroyed in a single night.
"Abel, the ones who attacked the Northwest Garrison Force were probably related to the Djinn, right?"
"Probably."
A little apart from Ronja and the others, Ryo asked, and Abel answered.
Abel answered, but his expression suggested he was thinking about something else.
"Abel, is something bothering you?"
"Yeah. Those guys attacked the garrison post, but they didn't touch Juraju City right next door, did they?"
"Apparently not. I wonder why. Maybe they ran out of time attacking the post and will attack the city tonight?"
"No, I don't think they will attack it…"
Abel shook his head slightly.
"I think they target not ordinary civilians, but people who fight—adventurers and soldiers."
"Ohhh. Could it be that the Djinn who appeared in the Kingdom… what was it called? Did the same too?"
"Yeah, Garwin. At first, we did not even understand that their target was so clear. But after being sent to the Eastern Countries, I kept thinking about it, and I believe they seek the lives of those who fight for some reason."
Abel spoke while thinking.
The conclusion Abel reached was correct, but there was no information here to confirm it.
During the process of revival, a Djinn requires 'fragments of god'.
Those who possess many of them are humans…more specifically, soldiers who have marched across battlefields, or adventurers who have survived the edge of death.
When they die, the 'fragments of god' they held within their bodies flow into the earth together with their blood.
That becomes the power for the Djinn's revival.
If only Abel knew the term 'fragments of god', perhaps it would have connected with the knowledge of 'fragments of god' that Ryo had gained in the Western Countries…
"If even Abel is certain…"
Ryo looked at Abel with a suspicious, doubtful expression.
This was the reverse of the usual situation.
"Hey, what is that look supposed to mean?"
"Abel always looks at me like this."
"R-Really? No, now that you mention it, I feel like I do…"
"Then enjoy the feeling of being looked at like this!"
"Even if you say that…"
Abel gave a wry smile.
Then he continued.
"In the first place, that prediction earlier was something Viscount Debuo had once mentioned as a hypothesis."
"Viscount Rashata Debuo? The temple's folklore officer, right?"
Ryo remembered meeting him in connection with the Djinn bug incident.
He was exceptionally skilled when it came to lore, and the temple had even gone so far as to make an exception just to keep him within the temple's faction.
"At the time, even the viscount was not especially certain. But now, we have to consider that he was right."
"If Rashata-san says it, then it must be true!"
"So me saying it isn't believable?"
"Of course! Your record and credibility are different."
Ryo declared this with a strangely haughty, condescending air.
For the record, Abel was the king, while Ryo was the premier duke.
In other words, Abel could be said to be Ryo's direct superior.
And yet Ryo was the one acting superior.
"Speaking of Rashata-san, he helped us in Kona Village. That time, it was Djinn bugs, I think…"
"Djinn bugs?"
Abel tilted his head at Ryo's words.
At that moment, Ronja happened to come over.
So Ryo decided to ask him.
"Excuse me, Ronja-san."
"Yes?"
"Did you ever see, around here in the past, a bug about the size of a little fingernail, with ten legs… one that, if crushed, would ooze red fluid like blood?"
When Ryo asked that, Ronja's eyes widened.
"Yes, yes, there were. We called them blood worms. This area has always had a lot of blood worms… They were around all year long, but now that you mention it, I have not seen them recently."
"Recently?"
"Yes… perhaps for about three months? Strange, isn't it?"
After answering that, Ronja was called away by another villager and left.
"Ryo, could that blood worm… did you call it a Djinn bug? Is that…"
"Yes. It seems to be the first stage of a Djinn gathering power. It apparently also appeared in Kona Village. Though there, it did not last very long… probably because the vampire's power was taken."
"I remember seeing that in the report. The vampire whose power was taken was Count Haskill Kallinikos, was it?"
"That's the one. That vampire said his power had been stolen. Normally, it would likely keep gathering power for a long time, like those blood worms around here."
"He said they had not been seen for about three months. That was exactly around the time the Corridor's 'wall' opened…"
"Yes, there must be a connection. Because of it, the Djinn's retainer may have gained power."
Both Abel and Ryo shook their heads slightly.
"Between Oranj in Garwin's case and this blue-haired one now, are the retainers all good with swords?"
"Garwin was the Djinn we fought in the kingdom, right? Was that retainer good with the sword too?"
"Yeah, very good."
"According to the red-robed Merlin-san, even if you say 'Djinn' as a broad category, their traits or specialties seem to be different in various ways."
"And yet all their retainers are good with swords?"
"Maybe so. What a pain."
Once again, Abel and Ryo both shook their heads slightly.
At a certain 'headquarters'—
"Hmm…"
The black-haired girl tilted her head.
"Do you think you can awaken, Raja-sama?"
Blue-haired Dainan asked.
"Almost. I am almost there, but… is there not a human somewhere carrying many 'fragments of god'…?"
"Hm, I do have a thought."
Raja muttered it without much expectation, but Dainan said he had thought of someone.
"You do?"
Raja asked back with a furrowed brow.
There was very much a sense in her expression that she did not believe him.
And yet, if such a human truly existed, there was also a little bit of hope shining through… quite a complicated feeling.
"Some time ago, I believe I reported that the cultists fought with the people of Farafao Village…"
"Mm, I remember. The ones led by the leader… Ronja, was it? They were wiped out by those three, right? You're referring to that Ronja?"
"No, actually, after that I attacked them myself…"
"What!? I have not heard anything about that!"
Raja's brows shot up, and she snapped back at Dainan with an angry expression.
"Sorry. It was a little hard to mention."
"Why was it hard to mention?"
"Well, the truth is, my strike… no, even the follow-up attacks after that were completely blocked…"
"What? Is this Ronja person really that strong?"
"No, the opponent was not Ronja. It was a swordsman who had newly joined Farafao Village and wielded a Magic Sword."
"Even looking like that, you are my retainer, are you not? And your power should have increased as well… yet every one of those follow-up attacks was blocked?"
"What do you mean, 'looking like that'…"
Raja looked shocked, while Dainan feigned a wounded expression.
"Well, whatever. That fellow sounds quite promising. But… why did you find it hard to say?"
"If I told you… you would want to fight him, wouldn't you?"
"Hm, true."
"That's why."
"Hm?"
"That Magic Sword user is my prey!"
For once, Dainan made a direct request of Raja.
Raja was surprised by this.
They had been together for a long, truly long time as master and retainer, but Dainan seldom made requests in such a forceful tone.
"Well, I suppose… if that Magic Sword user dies, I can recover the 'fragments of god,' so I can leave it to you."
"Thank you."
"Watching from the sidelines is boring, though. Should I take on that Ronja person?"
"Ah, come to think of it, there was a magician who seemed to be the Magic Sword user's partner."
"Oh?"
"I think he's also quite strong…"
"Hm, so you're assigning that one to me."
Raja shrugged.
Then she opened her mouth.
"Fine. I'll deal with that magician. Still, I shall watch over your battle."
"Huh? Raja-sama isn't going to interfere, right?"
"Enough! I said I will not interfere."
"And you'll only be watching…? Really?"
Dainan's eyes were those of someone looking at something highly suspicious.
He did not seem able to believe that Raja would simply watch without interfering.
"Isn't this a battle against a Magic Sword user you are so obsessed with? It is not something you get to see every day, is it? Sounds interesting."
Raja said that and laughed heartily.
"Then let us go at once."
Thus, a sudden attack by a Djinn and her retainer was carried out.
-x-X-x-
Chapter 0693 The Strange Tale of the Djinn Cult III
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In front of the castle gate of Farafao Village, a black-haired girl and a blue-haired man appeared.
"Hey, that blue hair…"
"It's him! Go get the chief and Ronja!"
The sentries on the gate lookout became flustered.
Before a minute had passed, the current chief, Anju, and Ronja came up to the watch platform.
Then they sighted the girl and the man.
"Blue hair… father's sworn enemy!"
"Calm down, Chief."
Ronja soothed Anju, whose body trembled with rage.
Ronja was wondering why, all of a sudden, the blue-haired man who was the former chief's enemy had shown up in front of the village gate.
He was not accompanied by any of his cultist subordinates… and more than that, he was not alone, either, but had an unfamiliar black-haired girl at his side.
Ronja had never received any report about such a girl, nor had he ever seen her himself.
"Both of you, do not come any closer!"
Ronja shouted.
The blue-haired man and the black-haired girl stopped without needing to be told, keeping a certain distance.
"What did you come here for?"
Ronja asked.
"Before telling you the reason I came, I'll introduce myself. My name is Dainan, and this black-haired one here is Raja. We've been fighting you for quite a while, but we never introduced ourselves."
The blue-haired Dainan answered with a smile.
Beside him, Raja shrugged in a bored manner.
Then Dainan continued.
"One of your group has a Magic Sword wielder now, right? I want to fight him."
"What?"
Ronja replied despite himself, his voice filled with suspicion at Dainan's words.
That was only natural.
If the leader of an opposing force suddenly appeared and said he wanted to fight a newcomer, anyone would wonder what the hell was going on.
As if they had heard that voice, Ryo and Abel came up onto the watch platform.
Then they showed their faces.
"You said you wanted to fight me?"
"Yeah, you. Magic Sword wielder. Fight me."
"A contest? What is it? A footrace, just the two of us?"
"As if…"
"Then shall we play chess? I'm not boasting, but I'm not that good at it."
"It's swordfight, swords! What are you talking about, running and chess? We're not doing anything but swordfight."
Dainan replied with anger seeping into his voice.
Beside Abel, Ryo nodded while muttering, "Disrupting the opponent's composure is the most basic of one-on-one combat".
"If you want a sword fight, then say so from the start. Don't Djinn's retainers get taught that kind of thing by their Djinn masters?"
"…What?"
At Abel's sudden, sharp remark, Dainan's gaze turned piercing.
"What? Did I say something strange?"
"You said retainers."
"Well, I mean, you're a Djinn's retainer, right?"
"Interesting, Magic Sword wielder."
Dainan nodded a few times in small motions.
Ryo, who had been staring intently at the black-haired girl beside Dainan, nodded once with a certain conviction and whispered into Abel's ear,
"That black-haired girl is a Djinn."
"No way! So they had been revived?"
Abel was astonished.
Then he turned to Ronja and asked.
"Ronja, have you ever seen that black-haired girl before?"
"No, I haven't. I was wondering the same thing myself. What is that, the retainer's… what?"
"Looks like she's the master of the retainer."
"What? So that means she's a Djinn?"
At Abel's words, Ronja was astonished.
Anju, who had heard the two of them talking, also widened her eyes.
"The Djinn herself, who hadn't shown up until now, came out this time. I want to know why. Shall we talk a little more?"
After muttering that, Abel once again called out to the two in front of the gate.
"Hey, retainer. No, was it Dainan? And the girl over there is Raja? Is Raja your name as a Djinn?"
That one line from Abel was a bombshell.
"Hey…"
That was all Dainan could get out.
His expression change drastically.
Not a trace of composure remained, and his face was a very complicated mix of surprise, anger, and confusion.
Abel pressed on.
"So you only attacked the garrison troops, huh? Not the common folk who've never experienced battle, but by defeating those with plenty of battlefield experience, the Djinn awakens… in other words, this is the final stage?"
"You… just who… what are you?"
Dainan's surprise deepened as he threw back the words, though even Abel himself was not completely certain.
That was proof that Abel's inference was correct.
(Extracting information while also stripping away the opponent's composure. As expected of Abel. Even though he's a muscle-brained swordsman, when it comes to the give-and-take of battle and these subtle nuances, there's no way someone like me could ever compare.)
Ryo praised Abel in his heart, glancing sideways at him.
Yes, in his heart only.
If he praised him out loud, he might get carried away.
Dainan's whole body trembled.
But the clear reaction came from beside him.
"Ahahahahahaha!"
Raja burst into laughter.
"Raja-sama?"
Dainan said in surprise.
"Interesting! Dainan, the man you found is very interesting."
Raja nodded over and over.
Then she continued.
"You should have realized it sooner. Look, Dainan, at that man's red hair."
"Huh?"
"In these Eastern Countries, there is no one with hair like that. Which means he's from the Central Countries or the Western Countries."
"So then…"
"That means he had connections with other Djinns or their retainers over there."
Raja looked at Abel as if to say, isn't that so?
Abel shrugged without saying anything.
It was his way of saying he would not deny it.
"Who… who did you meet? No, rather, the fact that you were told about such fine details is strange. Surely you were not cooperating with us Djinns over there?"
"Oh come on, even if the world were turned upside down, that would be impossible. Many knights, myself included, fought with everything they had. I wouldn't call it hatred, but we were clearly enemies."
"And yet you're alive, which means…"
"Obviously, because we defeated the Djinn and their retainers."
Abel stated it clearly.
In the Djinn War, the kingdom had gathered all its strength.
One could even say they had won with everything they had.
"Humans won? Unbelievable."
"Nah, you guys were cut off too, right? Because the 'Corridor' was sealed by the 'Wall,' reinforcements from the Djinns stopped coming, and at the same time, the things that helped strengthen you were cut off. Now that it's opened again, you're able to regain your power. In other words, you must have been sealed once by some alchemist or something."
Raja gave a small shake of her head, but Abel refuted her decisively.
That was right. Someone, hundreds of years ago, had sealed the 'Corridor'.
Most likely through alchemy.
Because of that, Raja, left behind in the Eastern Countries, had lost her power…
But three months ago, that 'Corridor' was opened.
So Raja regained her power.
"Enough!"
A single voice cut off the conversation between Raja and Abel.
It came from beside Raja.
"Aha, Dainan's lost his patience."
Raja frowned and shook her head.
A sudden eruption of emotion, rare though it was, from Dainan.
"Magic Sword wielder, come down here and fight!"
Dainan shouted.
"Even if we fight, though… I don't get anything out of it."
"I'll answer whatever you want to know!"
"Oh…?"
Dainan answered with a roar, and Abel was drawn in by the content of the offer.
"Right, Raja-sama! Please do not interfere."
"Understood, understood. I'll watch from here."
At Dainan's words, Raja waved a hand lightly, walked off to a little distance, created a stone chair, and sat down there.
"Abel-sama…"
Anju called out to Abel, who was about to climb down.
"Anju-dono, I'll avenge your father."
Saying that, Abel smiled brightly.
But after walking a while and coming alongside Ryo, he said in a low voice,
"If anything happens, I'm counting on you to cover for me afterward."
"You were making such a big show of it to Anju-san, though?"
"I had no choice but to say that."
Abel gave a wry smile.
"Those Djinn retainers are terrifying. You can't see the depth of their strength."
"I believe in you, Abel."
"Yeah. Still, those guys… they don't die, you know."
"Huh?"
"As long as the Djinn is alive, they just revive normally."
"How dreadful…"
"You know if Ryo takes down the Djinn instead, that'd be fine."
"Abel just needs to cut down the two at once."
"Give me a break."
Ryo's right fist and Abel's right fist touched lightly.
And so Abel threw himself into a second battle against the Djinn's retainer.
-x-X-x-
Chapter 0694 The Strange Tale of the Djinn Cult IV
-x-X-x-
"I'll state it again. My name is Dainan."
"Come to think of it, I hadn't introduced myself. My name is Abel."
Dainan and Abel stood facing each other outside the castle gate.
Ryo, Anju, and Ronja, of course, and most of the villagers of Farafao Village had climbed up onto the castle wall and were transfixed by the sight of the two of them confronting each other.
"Ryo-san, will Abel-sama be able to win?"
It was a direct question, though Ronja asked it softly.
He had heard Abel say he would avenge Anju.
That was why it was a question he did not want Anju to hear…
"To be honest, I do not know. The Djinn's retainers are very strong."
Ryo answered honestly.
Of course, he was wishing for Abel's victory, and he did not think Abel would lose.
And yet… in a battle against beings beyond humanity, one never knew what could happen.
"Back when we were in the kingdom before, Abel fought a Djinn's retainer."
"Eh…"
Ronja was left speechless by Ryo's words.
"And the result?"
"He said he cut the retainer's head off."
"Oh!"
"But the retainer came back to life."
"Wha…"
Ronja was speechless again.
It seemed the whole exchange had just barely not reached Anju's ears.
"Unless the Djinn itself is defeated, it will revive over and over."
"The Djinn…"
Ronja muttered that, then looked at the black-haired girl sitting on a stone chair, legs crossed, watching the battle begin between the two.
She was beautiful, looked strong-willed, and gave off an overwhelming sense of composure… but she did not look stronger than her retainer, who was about to fight.
"Attacking that girl would be a bad idea…"
"Yes, that is absolutely not to be done."
At Ronja's confirmation, Ryo nodded firmly in agreement.
By mutual consent, a one-on-one duel between Abel and Dainan was about to take place.
A duel is a kind of oath.
A vow that no one else will interfere.
A sacred battle carried out under such an oath, such a constraint.
Anyone who broke it would be met with furious contempt at such boorish, unrefined behavior.
"All we can do now is trust Abel and watch."
When Ryo said that in a louder voice, every villager on the castle wall nodded.
And then the battle began.
It was not that a starting gong sounded.
Neither Abel nor Dainan had been in ready stances with their beloved swords raised… it simply began suddenly.
Dainan took the initiative.
That may have been because, through their earlier conversation, Abel had robbed him of his composure.
But whether that was the case or not, the opening strike was fierce.
Clang, clang, clang…
Even as he deflected that powerful first blow, Dainan unleashed a flurry of attacks.
Abel angled his sword and deflected every single one.
Dainan, a Djinn's retainer with strength and speed superior to humans, fought with power; Abel opposed him with technique.
The structure naturally became Dainan attacking, Abel defending…
A horizontal slash worked into Dainan's chain of attacks.
Abel dodged it instead of parrying it.
More than any other strike, it flowed past, and Dainan's follow-through shifted off balance.
Into Dainan's next strike, connected from that shifted body, Abel stepped half a pace forward and thrust his sword.
A block at a point different from usual… a point where Dainan's power was not carried.
Even a Djinn's retainer, with his overwhelming physical strength compared to humans, could not ignore the laws of physics.
Dainan's sword was knocked back hard.
The offense and defense switched.
Abel was now attacking, Dainan defending.
"Ooooh!"
Cheers rose from the villagers of Farafao watching from the castle wall.
But among those who shouted, Ryo was not one of them.
(As expected of Abel, but his opponent is strong too. This looks like it'll go on for a while.)
Ryo was usually seen as a jokester, but when it came to battle, he was serious.
That was because lives were on the line.
When you put it that way, of course, it was natural.
For that reason, he never cut corners in training and always approached it earnestly.
This was why he held Abel in such high regard for continuing to strive and reaching his current heights.
Come to think of it, perhaps Ryo was the one who rated Abel highest of all.
Ryo liked physics.
And he thought the principles of the sword were the principles of things, that is, physics.
Let us think of the defender when facing an opponent's overhead strike.
The defender has three options.
The first is to receive it firmly.
The method is to hold the sword parallel to the ground.
By doing so, the kinetic energy of the downward strike is received head-on and canceled out.
The second is to deflect the opponent's sword.
The method is to angle the blade.
If the blade angle used for the first option of catching it firmly is considered parallel to the ground, zero degrees, then in the case of deflecting, the sword tip would be tilted forty-five degrees or more.
Then, after striking this sword, the opponent's blade would flow off to our right.
Likewise, if the tip were tilted minus forty-five degrees or more, the opponent's blade would flow off to our left after striking ours.
This is a phenomenon that occurs regardless of sword skill, strength, or speed.
Because it is physical.
That is why the principles of the sword are the principles of things.
Incidentally, the third option available to the defender is to dodge so that neither the sword nor the body is touched by the opponent's blade.
In the end, the choices available to the defender are condensed into these three.
This is the physics manifested in swordplay.
However, Ryo knew.
That many of those who devoted themselves to the sword would, in their later years, come to think about human beings themselves.
The principles of the sword. The principles of things.
Would philosophy appear beyond that?
The swordsmen who left their names in history ultimately, in Western terms, plunged into philosophy.
Conflict between people… the sword is the crystallization of that.
It is perhaps only natural for those who devoted their whole lives to the sword to think about what humans are and what the relationships between people are.
Since ancient Greece, the finest physicists were also philosophers.
At first glance, physics and philosophy seem like the two ends of the world, never to intersect at all.
And yet, perhaps those two ends of the world loop around and sit right next to each other.
Ryo found himself thinking such unconnected things.
He shook his head slightly.
What he should be focused on now is Abel's battle unfolding right before him.
Unconcerned by the spectators, including Ryo, the two fighters poured all of their nerves into the combat before them.
(Impossible! Is this magic sword user seriously human? Unbelievable.)
Dainan was greatly astonished in his heart… and at the same time, thrilled.
A battle that made his heart race after so long.
(Yes, he must be human. His strength is within human limits, though of course at a high level even among them. But that is not the point. This magic sword user… Abel, was it? This Abel guy's speed is outrageous. No, I know that. It is the highest level of speed a human can produce, and yet I feel like it is far beyond that. The reason is that every possible useless motion has been stripped away. Not just the movement of the sword. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, every ounce of waste has been eliminated… the pinnacle of refinement.)
This was the battle Dainan had wanted.
And the battle that had unfolded was beyond what he had hoped for… truly beyond expectation.
That was why he was rejoicing, understanding, and trying to accept all of it.
(One could say he reached such speed by perfecting technique. Of course, all of that is the result of facing his own body and his own sword with sincerity. His technique has been honed, his speed has surpassed the human realm… no, there is no change to the fact that this Abel is human. He may have had talent, too. But perhaps this is proof that if a person thinks and keeps striving, they can reach even this far. Ah, to be able to fight someone like this… I'm glad I didn't yield to Raja-sama.)
Dainan was delighted from the bottom of his heart that he had insisted on his own will.
Even in his long life as a retainer, battles with opponents like this had been few and far between…
For example, his master Raja— she was strong.
Dainan would not be able to beat her.
But what stood before him now, what was making him rejoice, was not that sort of strength.
A pure swordsman.
A strength forged by devoting everything to the sword.
That was what delighted Dainan.
(I had a feeling. I sensed the signs too. But to think that fighting a human could be this thrilling… ah, this is genuine astonishment from the bottom of my heart. If I feel such potential for becoming a swordsman in a human being, won't I end up unable to kill humans anymore from now on?)
There, Dainan gave a wry smile, in his heart, of course.
(No. Not likely. Impossible. A swordsman like this is not one in several million, or tens of millions. More like one in hundreds of millions. Yes, even the possibility alone is that rare. And now I'm actually crossing swords with such a person… what is this? A miracle?)
The Djinn's retainer kept swinging his sword, delighted.
(As expected of a Djinn's retainer, he is strong.)
On the other hand, Abel too was marveling inwardly, though he did not show it on his face.
(Garwin's retainer… was it Oranj? He was amazing too, but this Dainan guy is incredible as well. His strength and speed are completely different from a human's. If I make even one mistake in deflecting, it's over.)
Though surprised at the strength he had expected, he was calmly analyzing it.
Abel himself did not fully realize it, but this was an entirely different situation from when he fought Oranj.
The reason this different situation had arisen was solely that Abel had become stronger.
During his journey through the Eastern Countries, he had regained the strength he had once possessed in his days as an A-rank adventurer—and surpassed it by a great margin.
(I miss one deflection, and that's the end. And yet this guy can brute-force his way through it with sheer physical strength. It really is unfair.)
Abel continued fighting while grumbling inwardly.
Even while thinking such things, his battle with the retainer continued without issue… that alone was proof of how different it was from the swordfight against Oranj during the Djinn War.
Back then, Abel had not had such room to spare.
But now he did.
Differences create room.
Differences in strength, in experience, in perspective… any sort of 'difference' would do.
Difference creates room, and room allows one to notice yet more differences, which creates room again.
The 'difference' between Abel and Dainan was not strength or experience.
It was a difference in perspective.
What they were looking at, what they were aiming for, what they were comparing themselves against…
The swordplay between the two shifted into a phase where offense and defense swapped violently.
There was a clear reason for that.
Abel.
Because Abel's sword became unstable.
But the one who got angry was Dainan.
"Hey, Abel! What the hell are you trying out?!"
"Hm?"
"You've been testing something from the start, haven't you! Focus on the fight!"
"What an unreasonable thing to say."
Abel gave a wry smile.
Still, it was true that he was testing things.
"I thought your way of handling the sword was interesting."
"Huh?"
"This."
Saying that, Abel extended his sword slightly farther forward than his usual receiving point, caught Dainan's sword, and changed its trajectory.
"Huh? The way you redirect force is more efficient, or rather more effective, than the way I've been doing it. So I'm trying it out… but even so, it only works sometimes."
"You…"
Abel explained politely, and Dainan got angry.
But Dainan's anger was anger mixed with delight.
"Normally, you don't test things in a life-or-death fight! And just because you think it's interesting doesn't mean you can do it right away!"
"No, I did."
"That's why I'm saying normal people can't! Abel, you're abnormal!"
"That really is an unfair thing to say."
Abel grimaced.
(A monster. Yeah, no doubt about it. This guy called Abel is a monster wearing human skin!)
Dainan shouted in his heart.
He shouted in delight.
(And he's still growing even now, with sword skill like this? He's trying to learn my technique? Of course, once he can do that, he'll reach even higher heights. But to 'try it out' in the middle of a life-or-death battle? What kind of crazy head does it take to do that! )
Dainan was screaming only in his heart.
By contrast, Abel's words were calm.
"It is certainly a place where lives are at stake, but that applies only to me."
"Hm?"
"You Djinn retainers don't die even if your heads get cut off, do you? The one with his life on the line is only me. How unfair."
"You… don't tell me you know other retainers?"
Dainan was shocked by Abel's complaint.
"Hm? Didn't I say so? That I'd fought one before."
"I only heard that you fought other Djinns."
"Then I'll refrain from answering your question from earlier."
"You bastard, Abel…"
Abel said it with his mouth twisted in a sour expression, and Dainan—still a mix of anger and delight—answered.
Abel was testing Dainan's techniques.
Mentally, that meant he had enough room to spare for it.
But in truth, there was almost no difference in ability between the two of them.
No, perhaps it would be fair to say the difference was zero.
That was how evenly matched they were.
What existed there was a difference in perspective.
Perspective… what are you looking at?
Abel was looking not at the present, but at the future—at the version of himself who would become even stronger.
"Focus on this battle right now!"
"Yes, that is absolutely true."
Abel gave a wry smile at Dainan's shouting.
"But I can't help it once I want to see something."
"Want to see something?"
"The version of myself that has taken your technique and become stronger than I am now."
"You bastard…"
At Abel's words, Dainan answered with a face that mixed anger and delight.
Angry that he was not focused on the fight with him in this very moment.
Delighted by that stance of trying to make his opponent's techniques his own, even in a battle where his life was at stake.
Human hearts are complicated, and the hearts of retainers are complicated too.
"In the past, I used to think every day that I wanted to become stronger. I remembered that feeling."
The words leaking from Abel's mouth were almost gentle.
Ever since becoming a king, or perhaps even before that—ever since founding the 'Crimson Sword'—he had felt that the desire to fight for his comrades outweighed the desire to become stronger himself.
Even so, he must have grown day by day.
But he had not possessed that fierce, burning longing… he was aware of that.
He remembered that longing for strength.
No, to be precise, he had been remembering it little by little for some time already.
Probably since meeting the water-attribute magician who watched the battle from atop the castle wall.
After being swept together into these Eastern Countries and traveling together, that longing had become more clearly recalled.
And now, upon encountering a sword with the same strength as his own, it had burst forth.
"I want to become stronger."
That determination was spun from Abel's lips.
"Incredible! Fine then. In that case, defeat me and get stronger!"
"I will make an effort."
After answering that, Abel exhaled sharply, deeply.
In an instant, he concentrated only on the battle before him.
The gleam of the sword became sharper still.
(Hey! It's getting faster still? A human can really move this fast? No, no, no, wait a second. Is this guy seriously not human?)
Dainan's astonishment finally began to show even on his face.
Only two people noticed the change and its reason at this scene.
One was the Djinn Raja.
And the other was Ryo.
"In Abel's sword's radiance, green has mixed in."
That murmur was heard by Ronja, who was standing beside Ryo.
But Ronja did not understand what it meant.
Abel's sword was a magic sword.
That was why it shone red.
Yet somehow, Ryo felt that the brilliance was different.
"I haven't fought him. But I've heard of it. If I remember correctly… Richard of the Kingdom of Knightley, his sword… 'Ex'. I'd heard that no one else could wield it properly, but this swordsman called Abel is wielding it? No, even so, I guess that still isn't its full power? Why can he use it? Is he some kind of descendant?"
Raja muttered while watching the battle.
Then she smiled faintly and added:
"Dainan, I envy you."
To desire battle with a strong opponent.
That is the nature of Djinns.
It is the same thing as humans wanting to eat delicious food.
That is why one cannot escape it.
Just as there are people like sages who do not obsess over food, there are Djinns who do not obsess over battle too… but those are merely eccentrics, no, eccentric Djinns.
Somewhere, they are probably wearing red clothes.
If they see one of their retainers fighting a powerful foe, they feel envious.
Naturally, they themselves would want to fight that powerful foe too.
That is only natural.
But if asked whether they would want to snatch that fight away from the side and take it for themselves, the answer is no.
For a Djinn, a retainer is, in a sense, a child.
No, rather than a child, perhaps it is better to say they are a part of oneself.
After all, they are beings created by dividing one's own power, and also the targets to which one supplies one's own power.
If it is a part of oneself… then surely one would not want to snatch away that part's joy from the side, would one?
Of course, if that part were defeated, then one would want to take over the opponent oneself.
With such a Raja looking on, the battle continued.
"Abel, you really are a battle maniac."
"Huh? Dainan, don't say random things. I am a normal, ordinary swordsman."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"Smiling?"
At Dainan's remark, Abel was surprised.
He had not been aware that he was smiling.
"You're smiling faintly."
"Must be your imagination. You're seeing things."
"As if!"
He had pointed it out because his opponent was faintly smiling right in front of him.
There was no way it was a hallucination.
But the swordsman before him refused to admit it.
"Listen, Dainan. A battle maniac is someone like you, or like that 'Ryo' guy who's watching from the castle wall while wielding a sword despite being a magician and charging into close combat. It's definitely not someone like me, a swordsman who loves peace."
Abel's manner of speaking had become somewhat like that of a battle-maniac magician, likely due to their rather long acquaintance.
"I'll admit I'm a battle maniac. I'm a Cjinn's retainer, after all. My master, Raja-sama, is far more of a battle maniac than I am, but that can't be helped because she's a Djinn. But Abel, you love fighting too much even though you're human."
"Hey, now, don't say things that could be misunderstood."
Abel objected to Dainan's words.
Saying "you love fighting too much" might be acceptable for a swordsman, but if a king were called that, it would definitely be a problem.
A country ruled by such a king would never make its people happy.
"I've never fought him myself, nor has Raja-sama, but there was once someone who defeated a Djinn while still human. His name was Richard."
"Ah…"
At the familiar—far too familiar—name of his ancestor, Abel's lips escaped a word before he could stop it.
"That guy was apparently the type who 'loved fighting too much'."
"I see… King Richard."
The kingdom ruled by King Richard was said to have prospered.
That prosperity led to the kingdom of today, and it now stood supreme as one of the three great powers of the Central Countries.
In that case, Abel thought, perhaps being told he was a king who "loved fighting too much" was not so bad after all.
If he were like the great King Richard, then perhaps that was fine.
After that, the battle between Abel and Dainan continued.
By around thirty minutes in…
"It should be about time."
Ryo murmured.
No one heard that murmur.
The villagers on the castle wall were watching the battle with rapt attention, alternating between joy and sorrow.
Dainan, the Djinn's retainer, kept fighting while smiling the whole time.
From the outside, it looked rather eerie, but it could not be helped.
The man himself was overflowing with a sense of bliss he had never felt before.
Abel, for his part, was also fighting with a faint smile.
To those who saw him, he might have looked even more eerie… but that too could not be helped.
The man himself was feeling his own growth even while fighting.
A sword battle lasting thirty minutes was unquestionably a long fight.
In a prolonged battle, humans are usually at a disadvantage.
That is because they have difficulty with stamina.
Moreover, among living things able to wield weapons, humans are fragile and soft.
Not to mention Djinns, retainers, and vampires… even compared to centaurs, for example.
But the magic sword swordsman fighting here was not bad at prolonged battles.
Rather, one might even say he was good at them.
Why?
Because he excelled at thinking.
As they fought, he analyzed the opponent's strengths and weaknesses and even exposed their weak points.
Furthermore, he grasped the opponent's sword path and optimized his own defense against it.
Growing stronger while fighting… for Abel, that was in truth ordinary life.
"Yes, Abel the swordsman is a coward."
Ryo muttered in a small voice, oddly denouncing him.
In truth, Ryo had a similar side himself…
Neither of them knew that, of course.
And then, in an instant…
"Now should be fine."
"What?"
Abel's murmur reached Dainan as their swords clashed.
Instead of blocking Dainan's downward strike with his sword, he dodged it with body movement.
From the downward strike, Dainan flowed into a horizontal slash.
Normally, Abel would dodge this horizontal slash.
But this time…
Clang!
He stepped in all at once, bringing his body deep in close to near the base of Dainan's sword, raised his own blade, and used his whole body to take the horizontal slash.
The principle of leverage.
When you swing a sword, the tip becomes the fastest and carries the most force.
Conversely, the closer you are to the hilt, the slower it is and the less force it carries.
At that point near the hilt, Abel could withstand it even against a retainer's brute strength.
Spinning once with a quick step to add momentum, he severed both of Dainan's wrists.
Continuing the rotation, he cut off the neck, both legs, and finally pierced the heart with his sword.
The sword duel between Abel and the retainer Dainan ended in Abel's victory.
-x-X-x-
Chapter 0695 The Strange Tale of the Djinn Cult V
-x-X-x-
"Splendid."
Ryo spoke from atop the castle wall.
From the moment Abel defeated Dainan, everyone had been silent, but Ryo's words brought a flood of voices rushing forth.
"Woooooo!"
"He did it!"
"Amazing…"
"As expected of Abel-sama!"
Hearing the cheers from the wall, Ryo jumped down from the battlements.
Of course, he activated his
He thought it would be better to get close to Abel as quickly as possible.
So that if the Djinn were to strike at Abel, he could block it.
However, the Djinn Raja…
Clap, clap, clap…
As she walked slowly, she applauded.
"That was a splendid battle."
She nodded as she said so.
She walked over to Dainan's head.
Then she slowly picked it up.
"He seems quite pleased, judging by his smile."
Indeed, Dainan's face, after being cut off and sent flying, was wearing a broad smile.
"Djinn Raja, was it?"
"Hm?"
Abel called out to Raja.
"Could you revive that subordinate of yours, Dainan, somewhere else?"
"Hm? Because you've had enough for today?"
"No… There was a girl whose father was killed by that guy, and she was watching the fight. I think cutting off Dainan's head helped her come to terms with it, at least to some extent. But if he were to immediately come back to life right in front of her…"
"Abel, so you're a soft-hearted fellow."
Raja said it with a mocking smile, curling the corners of his mouth.
"I will not deny that."
"What if I refuse and revive him here?"
"I'll kill you, Djinn Raja."
Abel fixed her with a stare.
"That would be amusing as well…"
Raja laughed.
"No."
From the side came a voice cutting into their conversation.
Of course, it was Ryo.
"Abel is tired. I will be your opponent. And then I will seal you away, Djinn Raja, for several thousand years."
"What?"
"Previously, I witnessed the revival of another Djinn and had the opportunity to study the alchemy that had been used to seal it. Also, through my acquaintance with Merlin-san of the Western Countries, I fought Garwin as well. When it comes to dealing with Djinns, I do have a certain amount of experience."
Ryo said it confidently.
Raja stopped laughing and clearly frowned.
"So you know the Red-Robed One and the Fool?"
"Merlin-san is the Red-Robed One, right? Garwin… so he really is a fool, then."
Ryo shook his head at Raja's words.
Setting Merlin aside, Garwin… how pitiable.
Raja glanced at Dainan's scattered limbs on the ground, then shrugged and spoke.
"Well, fine. I have no interest in humans. But I did get to see a good battle. As payment for that, I will grant one of your wishes."
"What an arrogant attitude."
"The fact that she accepted my request is good enough."
Ryo frowned, and Abel gave a wry smile.
"However…"
Raja said that and looked Ryo over from head to toe.
Again and again.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Ryo muttered.
Abel only shrugged in silence.
"Robed one, so you must be a water-attribute magician, correct?"
"Robed one… you mean me, right?"
"That is right."
"My name is Ryo."
"Is that so? Water-attribute magician Ryo, you are beloved by the Fairy King, aren't you?"
Her tone was not especially sharp.
For Raja, it was probably just a confirmation.
But Ryo's reaction was excessive.
"Abel, everything has been exposed! At this point, we should silence her and bury all the evidence!"
"What the hell for?"
"Because otherwise, Abel will be charged with a crime, won't he? Once it is discovered that Abel did something bad…"
"I did nothing. Only Ryo's identity was exposed, right?"
"Abel, you're too stubborn!"
"Why am I the one being blamed…?"
There are times in this world when the one who speaks first wins.
However, since the other party, the Djinn Raja, was left out of the conversation, it no longer became a case of the first speaker winning.
"The favored child of the Fairy King, and likely the descendant of Richard. What an interesting combination."
"Abel, as expected, all sorts of things are being exposed."
"Ryo, there are many things in this world that cannot be helped."
At Raja's words, both Ryo and Abel understood that there were many things they would simply have to give up on.
Raja turned to Abel and said,
"You, Abel, are quite strong."
"Thank you very much."
"But you still cannot beat me."
"I-I see…"
"Rest assured, I have no intention of fighting you here and now. Dainan will likely want to train again and fight you himself."
"I see…"
At Raja's arrogant words, Abel found himself unsure how to respond.
"If you want a rematch, that is fine by me… but do not trouble the people who live here."
"Hm?"
"You people have attacked many people up to now, haven't you?"
"Yes, we have."
Raja nodded without the slightest shame at Abel's words.
"Stop doing that."
"Even if I must?"
"…Even if you must."
Raja frowned and asked; Abel nodded.
"More to the point, why attack people? It's a nuisance."
"Even if you say that. Humans themselves do not eat rice and wheat because they intend to cause trouble, do they?"
"Rice and wheat?"
"Because they are necessary to survive, or something like that, right? From the perspective of rice and wheat, wouldn't they feel, 'You do not need to eat us at all'? Are you not satisfied with eating meat and fish alone? Why must you also eat us?"
"You're saying Djinns attacking humans is the same as humans eating rice and wheat?"
"In a form, yes."
Raja shrugged.
Abel frowned.
Beside him, Ryo gave a small shake of his head.
"A Djinn has just put forward a perfectly reasonable argument about the environmental burden caused by humans."
"Somehow, it is starting to feel like humans are bad for plants."
"This is the old, familiar 'the best thing for the planet would be for humans to disappear' theory…"
This time Abel shook his head, while Ryo frowned.
"Djinns… can they not live unless they attack people?"
"During the recovery period, that is correct."
In response to Abel's question, Raja answered honestly.
"Recovery period?"
"Would it be clearer to say, when one is released from sealing?"
"In other words, now?"
"To be precise, until just a moment ago."
"What? Could it be…"
"Yes, I have fully revived."
Raja said that and wore a sinister, malevolent smile.
A jolt of tension ran through Abel's body.
He somehow restrained himself from putting a hand on his sword.
"My true body is kept at my headquarters. Unfortunately, I cannot show it to you right now."
"No, I do not particularly want to see it."
Abel answered immediately, without missing a beat.
Raja tilted her head slightly, then spoke.
"Right. There is one thing I want to confirm."
"What is it?"
"Are the two of you planning to remain here after this?"
"…What do you mean?"
Abel's response halted for a moment at Raja's question.
He had been thinking that if the two of them left, there was a possibility the village would be attacked again.
Just now, Raja had indeed said not to trouble the people who lived here, and she had seemed to accept that… but—
"Do not worry. We will not attack the people here anymore. I have passed the recovery period, so there is no need. I do not break my word."
Seeing Abel's concern, Raja grinned and said so.
"However, if Dainan should wish for a rematch with you… no, if I do as well. If we decide we want to fight you, I was wondering where we should go."
"Come to the Dark Continent. We will move on from here after a while."
"I see, then the Dark Continent is your base of operations."
Ryo answered from the side, and Raja nodded.
"In that case, let us meet on the Dark Continent."
With that, Raja collected Dainan's body scattered on the ground and departed.
"
Ryo probed the surroundings.
"Yes, good. They are no longer in this area."
Ryo nodded in relief.
Then Abel, tilting his head, asked,
"Ryo, are we going to the Dark Continent?"
"We are not."
"Huh? Didn't you just say we were going to the Dark Continent?"
"Please recall my exact words. I only said, 'Come to the Dark Continent. We will move on from here after a while'. I never said that our base of operations is the Dark Continent, nor that we are going there."
"…I see."
Ryo somehow puffed out his chest as he made his claim, and Abel gave him a sideways glare.
That look seemed to say, isn't that a little underhanded?
"Does Abel want to go to the Dark Continent to fight the Djinn?"
"No… I do not want to go."
"Right? We, too, might go to the Dark Continent someday… perhaps in about two hundred years. So it is by no means a lie."
"Y-yeah… I doubt I'll still be alive two hundred years from now."
Abel shrugged.
"Anyway, Abel has, at least, defeated a Djinn retainer. Congratulations."
"Hm?"
"But the Djinn herself warned that you could not beat her."
"R-right."
"So do not get carried away."
"I had no intention of getting carried away, but…"
While exchanging such a conversation, Ryo and Abel entered the village.
There, the villagers who had come down from the castle wall were all… teary-eyed.
This was completely different from the joy they had shown on the wall.
But those tears were by no means tears of sorrow…
"Abel-sama, thank you very much."
Anju, at the center of the tears, expressed her gratitude.
"We have avenged your father. You can move forward now."
"Yes…"
Abel said with a smile, and Anju answered through tears and laughter.
Farafao Village was wrapped in happiness.
-x-X-x-
Author's Note:
Incidentally, Water Magician's 4th Arc is 'The Dark Continent'.
Ehh, ehh.
Even if Ryo doesn't intend to go, the author intends to. ;D
-x-X-x-
Chapter 0696 Beyond the Easter Countries
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Two travelers, two beloved horses, five ice
From any angle, it was fair to say this was a very unusual traveling party.
"Abel may be a splendid king, and perhaps a very capable swordsman."
"Hm?"
"But out here in this remote land, such privileged status or position means nothing. Everyone is equal."
"R-really?"
"You have been glancing back at the
"Plotting?"
At Ryo's accusatory words, Abel tilted his head.
All he had been doing was occasionally looking back because he was still bothered by the gigantic group of
"You think you can outmaneuver me and monopolize the contents, don't you? I see through everything!"
"I had absolutely no such intention."
"A lie! There is a saying: the net of heaven is vast, and though its meshes are coarse, nothing slips through. Evil deeds never go well."
"I do not know about this heaven net something or whatever, but… well, it is true that bad deeds do not tend to go well."
"Exactly, exactly."
For some reason, Ryo nodded with a very self-important look.
"And the luggage inside that huge ice…"
"All of these are supplies for Andalusia."
"Ah… at least make it 'for Andalusia and co'."
"Well, fine. They are supplies for Andalusia, including Feiwan."
When Ryo said that, Andalusia and Feiwan whinnied happily.
Hearing that, Ryo nodded again in his exaggerated, self-important way.
"You have it rough too, Ryo."
"Huh? Why am I the one having it rough?"
"If the supplies are for the horses, then your own meals will not come from there, right?"
"W-well, maybe not."
"It is easy to hunt as long as we are in forested areas, but I heard that around the 'Corridor' there are also wastelands and deserts, weren't there?"
Abel brought up information he had heard before departing from the Imperial Capital.
Ryo's eyes went wide.
"I-If we starve, then it'll be a problem for Andalusia and co too, so as an emergency measure, our own food should also come from here…"
"So you are going to steal Andalusia and Feiwan's meals?"
"Grrr…"
Ryo was left speechless.
It was not as if Abel was saying this just to bully Ryo.
He was simply, purely asking what he planned to do about food supplies going forward.
But it seemed Ryo had not thought that far ahead at all…
"It cannot be helped. For today and tomorrow, I will have you give it your best."
"…Huh?"
Two days later, the gigantic ice
The two of them had hunted, gathered fruit… in short, the result of obtaining food however they could.
"It increased…"
"It is so that we are prepared for anything. Besides, the
Ryo shrugged at Abel's honest impression.
"That may be true as long as we travel over land… but what do we do when we are on a boat, like when we traveled up the South River? Since they cannot ride on a boat, do we stay on land the whole time?"
"If it comes to that, only we and Andalusia and co will board it, right?"
"What about these supplies?"
"They'll be in the river."
"Huh?"
Abel was at a loss for words.
In his mind, images of twenty ice
"These are ice. Abel, do you know what happens to ice when it goes into water?"
"Uh… ah, it floats."
"That's right. These
"What is it?"
Because Ryo's words suddenly cut off, Abel asked in return.
"On land, the wheels turn and move them forward, but on water or underwater, even if the wheels turn, they won't move forward…"
Ryo said that, then covered his eyes with his palm.
If one had to put it into words, perhaps it was "Damn it…".
"I will have to think of a different method."
After a while, he lifted his head and declared that.
"No, it does not necessarily mean we will be riding a boat, does it? Besides, there may not even be a great river like the South River anymore."
"That may be true, or it may not be. I do not want to get to that moment and say, 'I never thought about it'."
"T-That's true."
Pressed by Ryo's determination, Abel nodded.
It was not a bad thing to make assumptions in advance…
The party continued onward while Ryo muttered this and that.
Because he was swaying along on Andalusia's back, whom he trusted completely, it was possible.
Watching that from the side, Abel shrugged a little and rode along on Feiwan's back.
Night.
The two travelers and two horses camped outdoors.
For the past few days, they had not passed through any towns or villages where the party could stay overnight.
The two horses aside, having only two people made taking turns on watch rather troublesome.
After all, they could only sleep half the time.
But with Ryo there, such things did not matter.
In a safe place enclosed by ice walls, both Ryo and Abel, and of course Andalusia and Feiwan as well, could sleep peacefully.
"I think Ryo's magic is convenient in that respect."
"It is, isn't it?"
As always, Ryo nodded in a very self-important way.
Abel shrugged and looked at the map.
"Plans say tomorrow, right?"
"Yes. It's the place where the invisible wall that had been blocking the 'Corridor' between the Central Countries and the Eastern Countries used to be. Marie-san… probably opened it some months ago, but I wonder what it's like now."
"Marie… that phantomkin, huh."
Ryo said it with a lively, excited tone, and Abel remembered the female phantomkin who had once tormented Ryo with her astonishing swordsmanship.
"Since the wall that separated the Central Countries and the Eastern Countries for so long is gone, I think there will have been various changes."
"Probably. There is also the possibility that we will not be able to proceed."
"You mean like the ground collapsing or something…?"
"Yeah. Of course, that is only a possibility."
"Abel said something ominous again."
Ryo frowned and shook his head slightly.
The next day, the party reached the place in question.
"Here… is it?"
"This area… should be it."
Both Ryo and Abel rode forward on the backs of their beloved horses.
Yes, they could proceed without any issue.
"There is nothing strange here, right?"
"No. Well, we don't even know exactly what that phantomkin did in the first place."
"Good thing Abel's weird prophecy did not come true."
"My prophecy…"
"If some incredible catastrophe had occurred, the ground split apart, magma erupted, and all living things died out… I would hate it if the world had become something like that."
"That is less my prophecy and more your delusion being strongly reflected in reality."
Abel shook his head slightly.
The party continued, after all, without anything happening.
"So the invisible wall and all that are already behind us, right?"
"Yeah. In the end, nothing happened."
Abel let out a relieved sigh.
"So that means we've passed through the Eastern Countries, right?"
"That would be the case."
"In other words, that means we've entered the Central Countries, right?"
Ryo asked happily.
But Abel tilted his head.
"Is that really so?"
"Huh?"
"We indeed passed through the Eastern Countries… but this is still the so-called 'Corridor', right? I have never heard of this 'Corridor'. In other words, to say this is part of the Central Countries when even a king of the Central Countries doesn't know this place…"
"…So because Abel is poorly informed, this place is not being recognized as part of the Central Countries?"
Ryo looked at him with a suspicious, dubious expression.
"I did not say that. This area is a place that belongs to neither the Eastern Countries nor the Central Countries."
"I guess it can't be helped. I will respect Abel's dignity and leave it at that."
"Hey…"
Abel was about to snap at Ryo's words.
But Abel, who had also learned patience as a king, would not lose his temper over this much.
"Even if this is not the Central Countries, if we keep going west, we'll reach it, right?"
"Yeah, probably."
"Which country in the Central Countries will we reach?"
"Most likely… the Union, or one of the small countries around it."
"By small countries around it, do you mean the Ju Kingdom, for example?"
Ryo asked.
The Ju Kingdom was the homeland of Prince Willy, Ryo's disciple.
Before Ryo departed for the Western Countries, Willy had remained in the Ju Kingdom, but what about now?
"Yeah, the Ju Kingdom is what you would call a small kingdom, but… among the countries around the Union, it is on the larger side."
"Really?"
"Yeah. There should be quite a few countries much smaller than the Ju Kingdom. In the first place, the Union's official name is the Handal Union. As the name states, it is a federated state formed from many small countries."
"So there are plenty of small nations that are not part of that Union to the east of it… beyond this 'Corridor'?"
"That is right."
Abel nodded.
Abel was the king of the Kingdom of Knightley, one of the major powers of the Central Countries.
Before becoming king, he had been an adventurer, but from the time he was born until he turned eighteen, he had properly received a royal education.
That included information about the Central Countries as a whole.
No matter what Ryo said, he was a serious and capable king.
The two travelers, two horses, and twenty Dollies moved farther west.
Actually, at one point, they had eaten through one cart's worth of supplies.
However, they were attacked soon after by a wyvern that came from nowhere.
As usual, Ryo pinned the wyvern to the ground, and Abel finished it off, so nothing came of it.
As a bonus, they obtained a magic stone and wyvern meat.
Since the meat filled one cart… they were back to twenty Dollies again.
"Wyverns really are everywhere, aren't they?"
"And this one was an adult, too. Normally, adventurers face juveniles when wyvern hunting."
"I can see mountain ranges both to the north and to the south. I wonder if it came from around there."
"Maybe. It is called the 'Corridor', after all, so it is getting fairly narrow. Still, that mountain is pretty tall, isn't it?"
"The Demon Mountain north of Rondo Forest, was it? It might be the same height as that, or even taller."
"That's true. Calling this place, sandwiched between two mountain ranges, the 'Corridor' is quite apt."
Ryo and Abel chatted leisurely while swaying on their beloved horses' backs.
Both Andalusia and Feiwan were smart, so there was nothing for the two of them to do.
All they could do was enjoy the scenery and exchange trivial conversation.
Even so, Ryo did keep
For example, if they were suddenly attacked by an invisible monster, that would be a problem.
However…
"Hm?"
"What is it?"
Abel reacted to Ryo's murmur.
"About one kilometer ahead… there seems to be people… no, something like a village or settlement."
"Ohh."
"What is that reaction? Is King Abel going to suddenly give orders to attack a village without even issuing a surrender warning?"
"Yes, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Why would I attack a village?"
"In my hometown, there is a saying: preemptive strike wins. Personally, I feel bad about attacking a village that has done nothing wrong, but if Abel orders it as king, I have no choice but to obey."
Ryo said this while somehow making a gesture of wiping tears from his eyes.
Of course, they were fake tears.
In the first place, Abel had not given such an order. Nor would he ever.
"Do not attack the village. Do not issue a surrender warning either. I want to build a peaceful relationship. Is that fine?"
"What if they launch a preemptive strike? What if the villagers say, 'Nice horse you've got there, leave all your baggage and horses here'?"
"Ordinary people would not say that."
"What if they do? Abel is a king, after all. Anticipating the worst and hoping for the best… that is exactly what a statesman should be."
"I see, in that case, if it comes to that, Ryo, protect us. With your usual ice wall."
"Defense, is it. Well, I suppose why not? Let's pray the enemy's attack power is low."
"No human being could possibly pierce Ryo's ice."
Abel's final mutter was not heard by Ryo.
After traveling a while longer—
"Stop! Dismount!"
Five men who had hurried out from the village shouted while brandishing spear-like weapons.
"See? It's the leave-your-horses-and-belongings-here pattern!"
"Really?"
Ryo asserted confidently, and Abel expressed doubt.
The things the five men were holding were long like spears… but there was no metal on the tips.
They were simply carved wood.
Could people like that really do something akin to banditry?
Abel could not quite imagine it.
"Well, I guess we can dismount."
"We won't be able to make a speedy getaway."
"It is not like we were planning to do that in the first place. I cannot see it, but you must have us surrounded with your ice wall, right?"
"You figured it out quickly. As expected of a former A-rank swordsman."
Ryo praised him with an air of self-importance.
Abel shook his head slightly in silence.
The two dismounted.
Ryo handed Andalusia's reins to Abel and stepped forward.
"Hello. We are not suspicious people. We are just traveling adventurers."
Ryo greeted them cheerfully with a smile.
A greeting with a smile certainly did not look suspicious.
It was the same "people-charmer" smile Abel often talked about.
"T-This is Bondrin Village! What do you want here!"
The man in the center among the five asked.
He was apparently the leader among the five.
Up until now, only this man had been speaking.
The other four held their spear-like things ready…
But Abel noticed something.
All of them were trembling slightly.
"We are on our way west toward the Central Countries. If you do not want us to enter the village, we will not."
When Ryo said that with a cheerful smile still on his face, the five men looked at one another.
Then, a voice called out from behind them.
"Cease that!"
The clear, carrying voice belonged to an old man coming from the village.
Seeing that he had many people following behind him, he was likely the one in power in the village.
"V-Village chief…"
The man in the center of the five squeezed out those words.
"Guests, I am sorry if we startled you. Earlier, I heard the word adventurers. Long ago, I heard of such people. People who are paid to solve problems for those in trouble."
"Yes, well, that is about right."
At the village chief's words, Ryo nodded.
At the very least, it was not wrong.
The two of them were led into the village.
On the way to the village, Ryo noticed something unusual.
"An emerald-green pond?"
For an instant, that was how it looked to him.
But he immediately understood otherwise.
"Ocean-green glass? No way, is that trinitite?"
Trinitite, the artificial mineral created by the world's first nuclear test.
Sand was thrown up, melted at once into liquid, and then cooled and hardened again to form trinitite.
The presence of that meant that something at an extremely high temperature had been there.
Thinking such things, the party was ushered into the village.