Chapter 739 - Chapter 3: The Demon Lord's Resurrecting Cave in the Demon Realm ⑩ (Morandine) Outpost
Since the Boy King cannot use magic, he will fight with a weapon. It seems that a King must use a sword, and he wants to deliver the finishing blow with a one-handed sword. In other words, although it's only for the final moment, it's necessary to descend near the ground. This was when everyone was discussing going with that line.
"If possible, I want to participate in the battle from the beginning. If I just watch everyone's fighting from a safe place and only deliver the finishing blow to a dying opponent after the matter is settled, can it really be said that I won?"
Suddenly, the Boy King said he wanted to fight. And what's more.
"Henry-dono, Eleanor-dono, what was your first monster extermination like?"
He suddenly asked about the first experience with monsters from these outliers. What are you doing using non-standard people as models? I think ordinary people can live longer by behaving ordinarily.
"Our experience won't be much of a reference."
I thought so. After all, he's a person whose first campaign against humans involved charging into a fortress alone and chasing them away. He must have challenged a wolf or a bear by himself.
"After all, it was a rat extermination."
Wh-What! Is that true?
Apparently, when he directly petitioned his father, the King at the time, saying he wanted to go to war, he was told that if he exterminated a hundred rats infesting the sewers of the Royal Capital, he would be taken along. In the end, he achieved the quota and successfully completed his first campaign, but for that purpose, he reportedly invited Eleanor-sama and did rat extermination. It's surprising. However, this has proven it. After all, rat extermination is the basis of everything. The King before the previous one understood that.
"It brings back memories. I was surprised when Henry, who was the Crown Prince at the time, suddenly invited me. Until then, we had almost no acquaintance."
I hope it's not the case, but was their first date rat extermination? I'm surprised she didn't refuse.
"After all, it was a direct offer from the Crown Prince. I couldn't just ignore it and was quite troubled, but I told myself it would be magic training and took on the challenge."
"At that time, I had just become an adult. You were reputed as a genius magic girl. Since you were the daughter of the Magic Corps Commander and we were of the same generation, I thought we would eventually fight together anyway, so I wanted to see your skill once."
"Thinking back now, that was the beginning of our relationship."
A beautiful memory... I wonder? The meeting of their two sons is far more romantic. It might have been better not to have heard it.
"R-Rats?"
It must be hard to believe that the Crown Prince of a nation would do rat extermination. The Boy King confirmed.
"Indeed. Though it looks like that, rat extermination was quite difficult. Their way of moving was completely different from humans, so what I had practiced until then didn't help much. The fur of a magic beast is troublesome. If you cut it from the front with a steel sword, it slips on the fur and won't cut. You had to thrust, or cut down from diagonally behind while dodging like this."
He makes a motion of swinging a sword as he turns around.
"I-I see..."
At the unexpected answer, the Boy King also became quiet.
"Come to think of it, I heard from King Seldic himself that his first monster extermination was also rats?"
Eleanor-sama is asking the Second Son. This is another shocking fact. Is that why they get along? Come to think of it, Carla, Annabella, and the other orphans of the Royal Capital were made to do rat extermination so they could make a living. After gaining experience, they could become soldiers of the Kingdom Army, and the seniors who were promoted became knights.
"Yes. That is what I have heard. Along with a man named Falstaff, who was his swordsmanship instructor, he gained practical experience against rats. Following that, I myself went many times with my brother. We struggled with those big ones."
He replies with a smile.
Good grief, I didn't think rat extermination had become so popular.
"Speaking of which, Jeanne-shikyou (Bishop)."
"Y-Yes."
Suddenly, the Head of the Morandine Royal Capital Church addressed me.
"I hear that rat extermination is a hobby of Jeanne-shikyou."
"It is not."
I wish the Church wouldn't spread such rumors.
"But when this matter came up, we also had exchanges with the monster extermination unit of the Engrio Royal Capital Church, and they said to be careful because Jeanne-shikyou sometimes falls ill if she doesn't do her hobby of rat extermination."
"F-From the Engrio monster extermination unit?"
"Yes. It seems King Seldic had given the instructions."
He replied with a perfectly serious face. He must be talking about that time. At that time, I was tired from the continuous expeditions. I even saw a strange dream. It might be out of kindness, but it's a nuisance.
Beatrix is smirking. She was a witness at that time.
"N-No, well, that, you see, as everyone has done, rat extermination is the basic. It's like getting a feel for it, or getting back into shape when I'm not feeling well..."
I ended up being incoherent, but he replied with an "I see." Did he... understand?
"Then, should I also start from rat extermination?"
Oh no, the Boy King is starting to get the wrong idea.
As expected, we can't go to the sewers now. The goal is strictly the Fenrir, but he gave up on facing the Fenrir from the beginning. It's unreasonable to face a D-rank Fenrir when he hasn't even defeated an F-rank rat. It was decided that he would attack with arrows along with those around him who use magic, and deliver the final blow. By the way, the arrows are Silver Arrows. If he hits a vital spot well, he can take it down in one hit. If that's the case, it's quite impressive. Anyway, just to be sure, we'll slit its throat. We'll have him work hard and fire arrows aiming for that.
The operation itself is no different from usual. We'll attack with bowls. However, since we'll remain visible, caution was required. As a result of the opinion from the Morandine camp that it would be questionable for the King to ride in another country's bowl to exterminate monsters, it was decided that the Boy King would ride in a Morandine bowl. I think it would be better to ride in a former hero's bowl, but it seems carrying a country on one's back is not that simple. Since the Henry Party didn't particularly agree or disagree, it must not matter.
However, following Eleanor-sama's advice, as a countermeasure against the Fenrir's lightning, in addition to the bowl user, a defense person and two of the Morandine army's prized Wind Barrier users were to be by the Boy King's side.
And so, the plan was made.
The next morning, after breakfast, there was an explanation of the operation, and we sortied.
"I am sorry for having everyone go along with my selfishness. I'm counting on you!"
"Ooh!"
Perhaps he thought about various things, as he's become a bit softer.
In the Boy King's bowl, two bowl users, two Royal Guards, and the Bishop sent from the Royal Capital—a total of five people—ride together. This is the main force. As guards, Henry-sama, Harrison-san, and three others from the Morandine side are in Eleanor-sama's bowl, and as decoys, the Class of 175 is in Wilson-san's bowl. All the bowls remain visible. In a sense, all of them are like decoys, so we have to make a distinction. Eleanor-sama's strategy was the difference in altitude.
We arrive over the forest. When we reach about between the northern edge and the central undulating area, we change course to the west. The target is the river. Aiming for the westernmost of the six ponds, we landed on the pond just like that. The Orcs who noticed began barking all at once from the shore. They can hide in the shade of the trees. Normally, if it became a shooting match, the Orcs would have the advantage.
Glancing at the emboldened Orcs, we advance southeast just above the water surface. The goal is the river. We go up the river to the confluence with the river that flows into the southeastern pond, where the monster swarm is. We head there. We have confirmed that Fenrirs are there.
Approaching the river means approaching the shore, which means entering the range of the Orcs' arrows. As proof, they fired arrows all at once. On the edge of the bowl, I've placed a cylinder made of my Light walls. While bouncing off the flying arrows, Beatrix retaliates with Wind Cutter.
Beatrix's Wind Cutter is not aiming for the Orcs. It flies as if grazing them, cutting off the tree branches behind them. If she did it seriously, she could cut through the trunks along with the Orcs, but if she did that, they would flee. We have to let the opponents get carried away. She's firing with reduced output.
While drawing their attention like that, we headed for the entrance to the river.
The entrance is like a small waterfall, or a place where water falls down, and above that is the river. The area around the waterfall is rocky, and the mouth of the waterfall is narrow. Even a human could probably jump over it. Orcs could easily cross it, and for a big brute, it's just a step.
With a swish, the bowl jumps over the waterfall and comes out over the river surface. The Orcs stopped following, perhaps because the defense range or territory is different. Just like that, we go up the river while hearing the shouts of the Orcs behind us.
The river flows through the forest. As a result of the terrain survey, it's known that every river has a width and depth sufficient to fulfill the function of a moat, though not as much as the river in the Northeastern Forest. At the very least, if one tried to cross on foot, their whole body would be in the water. And the riverbanks have a drop. It's about the height of a person, but it's a sufficient barrier. Along that river flowing from the central part toward the northwest, shrubs grow thickly, especially on the north side. Conversely, on the south side, there are no shrubs, and stumps can be seen here and there in the forest spreading beyond. Because of that, one can unexpectedly see far into the distance.
If one were to walk and attack through the forest from the south or west, the shrubs would be in the way, and they wouldn't be able to see at all what's beyond the river. On the other hand, from those lurking on the central side, it would be obvious. Clearly, the defense from the north is thin. To put it another way, it shows how solid the former sub-Demon Lord's territory in the north of this forest—currently a den for Amphisbaena's children—was. In the past, if humans attacked from the north, they would have been attacked from behind by the sub-Demon Lord. Now, it's just exposing a weakness.
"The presence of monsters has completely vanished."
Apparently, Wilson-san can tell. When I tried casting Sense Living just in case, there was no reaction from monsters. Only small animals.
It's a peaceful forest. That changed when we approached the central part of the forest. The river flowing from the central part splits into southwest and northwest directions midway. The area around that junction is where the swarm is. The target Fenrirs are there.
"They're coming soon."
"Right, Wind Barrier."
Beatrix reacted to Wilson-san's words. Not long after a lid was made for the bowl, lightning struck. It's a Fenrir. It finally appeared. Even looking around, I can't find it. Before long, arrows flew. Fireballs also flew. Even big stones flew. Since stones are difficult with Light walls, I haven't deployed them from the start. When I bounced them back with a wall of air, they fell into the river with a splash.
After that, we were single-mindedly attacked. For the monsters, it seemed to become fun to attack the strange humans surrounded by walls of air as if they were targets; they started attacking one by one, making a fuss when they hit and making a fuss when they missed. I don't like it because it feels like we're being made fun of, but even if by chance, we are drawing the monsters. In that case, this is also a decoy mission; it can't be helped. I went so far as to land in the middle so as not to approach the riverbank, and became a target while swaying.
When Wilson-san moved the bowl quickly and increased the difficulty of hitting the target, the monsters also got heated up. They stopped hitting at all. Before long, it wasn't one by one anymore; multiple monsters attacked all at once.
Wilson-san skillfully maneuvered the bowl and dodged the attacks. It also worked that I deployed Magic Reflection diagonally to divert the lightning just a little, and Beatrix occasionally rapidly opened the lid to change the trajectory of the flying arrows.
Losing his patience, it was when one big brute pulled out a shrub and brandished it. If something like that hit, we would capsize. Wilson-san also took off and began to flee toward the downstream of the river.
Is it the instinct of monsters and magic beasts to chase those who flee? They chased after us. At the confluence of the river, the riverbank is wide in parts. They entered the water with a splash from that riverbank.
Finally, the time came. The two bowls that had been waiting in the sky inside the sun dived down all at once.
First, a large number of arrows flew. Because they were aimed from above, they had momentum. Even though they were arrows, water columns rose here and there as if big stones had been thrown. Although I knew arrows had flown because they were stuck deep in the bodies of several monsters, if not for that, I would have mistaken them for huge hail or something.
The monsters also stopped moving for a moment at the unexpected surprise attack. There, Holy was fired as the second wave. The target is clearly the Fenrir. There are renowned users when it comes to holy magic. There's no way they'd miss. The Fenrir that was on the riverbank, perhaps hit around its hind legs, collapsed as if its waist had given out and was struggling with its front legs.
Looking up at the sky, Eleanor-sama's medium bowl is firing support Holies from above. This time the aim is accurate. They took down several Fenrirs and Ogres. However, so that the Fenrir wouldn't flee, the power was moderate. About mid-level.
Seeing a chance, the Morandine bowl descended right next to it. It's deploying a Wind Barrier for the ceiling.
Intending to deliver the finishing blow to the collapsed Fenrir, it hovered directly above.
"Pull up alongside! I'll deliver the finishing blow!"
The Boy King drew his sword. As expected of royalty, it's silver. But is it okay to pull up right alongside? Wouldn't it be better to fire arrows from above and weaken it first?
"Y-Your Majesty! Please wait!"
Seldic's Second Son tries to stop him, but the King's order takes priority. The bowl doesn't stop.
There, the Fenrir suddenly stood up on three legs and rammed the bowl that had pulled up alongside. It was rammed by a monster the size of a shed. People were thrown from the bowl, flew quite a distance, fell into the river, and made several splashes. Perhaps they can't touch the bottom, as they are struggling.
This is bad! The Boy King is wearing chainmail. If we're not careful, he'll drown.