“Seriously?! That would be incredible! My fellow knights will be delighted!” I wondered if I should invite all the knights... I figured I should, it seemed standard fare. Everyone who knew them would be gathered here to have some fun. It’d be like the wedding dinner, really, just with more of a relaxed, party-style atmosphere.
After playing for a time, the men diverted their attention to the food and drink on display, which meant that the women were now more than ready to give the games a go. That being said, they didn’t opt for the physically exerting activities like trampolining or bowling. Instead, they decided to play cards, mahjong, pinball, and other lighter activities.
“Now then, if you would allow the nobility of the Duchy of Brunhild to grant you all a modest gift, please step this way.” Things were quieting down as the attendees ran out of games to play, so I called out to them. The maids then began to distribute small cards to everyone in the room. Each card had twenty-five random numbers written on them in a grid. I then directed everyone’s attention to a lottery machine, and told them to mark down on their cards the number that came out. To be blunt, we were playing bingo.
I removed a cloth sheet from a pile in the corner of the room to unveil the prizes.
There was a wide variety of goods on display, from weaponry to house decorations and ornaments. There were even some spellstone-imbued accessories for the ladies. Stuffed toys for the kids, too. The weapons were no mere lumps of material I had crafted, either. Each had a unique enchantment applied to it. That being said, I made sure the weapons weren’t especially overpowered or anything, just unique in their functions.
“Alrighty, let’s start with... Eight! The first number is eight! Mark on your cards where the number eight is, if it’s there at all. After you get a set of numbers, or a bingo, in a horizontal, diagonal, or vertical line, you win a prize!” In this instance, I had actually prepared enough gifts for everyone to get one. It was more about who won first.
After a few matches, there seemed to be some people close to winning prizes.
“Two... two... I need a two!”
“Come on, fourteen!”
“Fifty-oneeee, pleaaaase.” Everyone stared in anticipation as the machine whirred and clicked.
“Thirty-two! We got thirty-two!”
“Bingo!” The one to shout out was Gaspar, Commander of the Regulus Empire’s knights. After I checked his card, I showed him to the prizes.
“So, which one are you going for?”
“You mean to say I can choose from any of these?”
“That’s right, but you can only have one.” Gaspar chose his gift after some deliberation. He opted for the ornate red lance.
“I call this the Blaster Lance. If you recite a certain phrase, it’ll shoot a potent blast of fire from the tip.”
“What, really?!”
“Yeah, I’ll teach you the phrase later on. It’d be bad if you fired it here.” I chuckled a bit at my own joke and handed the lance to Gaspar. He happily held it in hand for a bit before returning to where he was before.
He showed it off to the emperor, who seemed quite keenly interested in how it worked. The man looked at it with a mixture of amazement and admiration, so I wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking.
It consumed a lot of mana, so an ordinary person would be fit to collapse after firing it off just three times. That was why I had designed this weapon as a special trump card, only to be used properly.
“Alright folks, let’s see what we’ve got next! Number... fifteen! Fifteen, folks!” The bingo game progressed without a hitch, and everyone was happy with their prizes. The ruler’s wives were especially happy with the accessories and interior decoration-related rewards they had chosen. Young Princess Thea of Mismede received a plush toy, as well. I had given it a [Program] that caused it to repeat anything that was said to it. It was just a shame that it happened to be voiced by that irritating robogirl.
“Now, it’s quite late and night has fallen. If you’d all please follow me for the last of today’s events.” I took everyone along with me to the castle balcony. The sky was black as pitch, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing besides the castle in the area either, so the landscape was also as dark as could be.
Suddenly, an enormous blast occurred in the sky, sending out a colored flower spreading far across the sky. The guardsmen put themselves into defensive positions, but I raised my hand to put them at ease.
“Ah, these are fireworks. You simply sit back and appreciate them, you do. They are often launched during the summer in Eashen, they are.” Yae had confirmed to me that fireworks existed in Eashen, but it seemed like they didn’t have anything especially flashy, just basic rockets.
The fireworks bloomed out into the night sky, one after the other. To be honest, I didn’t actually fire them upward. I had Rosetta drop them from the Workshop of Babylon, which was hidden in stealth mode. I had written a [Program] to ensure that the fireworks would detonate before hitting the ground. It was much easier than creating pyrotechnic launchers.
From the balcony, we stood and watched beautiful flowers bloom in the air. Our maids passed out champagne to all the adults who were staring up at the display. The kids were extremely excited too, looking up to the firework with wonder in their eyes.
With that, the Duchy of Brunhild’s founding party came to a close. It was a huge success.
In the end, after I told each of the monarchs that they could take one thing from my game room back home with them, each of them chose to take a massage chair. Leading a nation must have been tiresome work after all...
Chapter II: The Sea of Trees and the Snowcapped Mountains
The founding party went off without a hitch, and soon a sense of peace began to fall over Brunhild.
Despite the fact that it had taken a short while due to various issues, I finally gave Lu an engagement ring. I definitely couldn’t have afforded to put it off any longer. Not to mention that it would’ve been extremely rude not to formally put a ring on her.
Even though she acted as though she didn’t mind the delay, Lu gratefully and happily accepted what I gave her. The ring was identical to the ones I had given to the others, right down to the design and magical effects.
“Now I can finally hold my head high and proclaim that I am the fiancée of Touya, my amazing man!” I felt a pang of guilt wash over me as I looked at her smiling. I definitely shouldn’t have put it off so long.
We were all happily sitting together at a table on the balcony when Leen appeared with Paula in tow. Her expression was grave.
“There’s been another Phrase sighting. One has appeared within the Sea of Trees. The tribe living there sent a request for help to Mismede.” Everyone suddenly jumped up from their seats in a panic. Except Lu, who had no idea what any of that meant.
“And what became of it? Was it taken down?” Yumina asked.
“I’m afraid not. It’s still there right now, demolishing the tribal village, and turning any and all individuals that enter the vicinity into mincemeat.” From what I understand, it has a huge, arachnid form.”
A gigantic Spider Phrase? I wonder if it’s on the same tier as the Manta Phrase we encountered a while back... What if it’s even stronger? If that’s the case, then [Apport] won’t do the trick... I’d like to try and smash it using [Gravity], though.
“Let’s go, then. I don’t know if we can take it down, but we have to at least try. Not just that, we might—”
“If we’re lucky, we may encounter that boy again.” I nodded at Leen’s comment. It was like she had read my mind.
Ende. The mysterious young man who had so easily crushed the Manta Phrase that we stood no chance against. I wanted to know what he meant when he spoke of the “Sovereign Phrase.” That guy knew something, he had to.
“Let’s get to Babylon and set course for the Sea of Trees.” We began our preparations to face off against this new Phrase.
“Crystal creatures that destroyed the
civilizations of old?” We were traveling along to the Sea of Trees in our Babylon, so we decided to roughly explain the situation to Lu while we had the chance.
Come to think of it, what even are the Phrase? Right now I’m just assuming that they were sealed in some area of space, and those tears in reality are where they’re slipping through as the barrier that’s keeping them contained breaks down. So now they’re finally returning to the world after thousands of years... Probably, I think. If I believe what Ende had to say, then the creatures are searching for their leader, the Sovereign Phrase. But from where I’m looking all they’ve been doing is killing everything in their vicinity. Is there more to it, or is it just mindless slaughter? Wait, what even happened all those years ago? Who sealed them in the first place, if they are actually sealed. Where did the Phrase come from? I don’t have any answers at all here! Ende... he probably knows. He warped off last time without so much as an explanation, but I’ll make him talk if he shows up again...
“Master, we’ve reached our destination.” Cesca called to me and displayed a scene from below on the monolith computer. An enormous beast of crystal was rampaging around the forest. It was an arachnid monster with eight thin, sharp legs. Those legs were cutting through trees like they were butter, skewering members of a tribal village who happened to live down there all the while.
“It’s a big one. About the same size as the last one we encountered,” I said.
“Verily, it is. I am just thankful that this one does not appear to have the power of flight, I am.” I was just as thankful as Yae. Fighting the Manta Phrase was a huge chore because it was soaring above the desert sands. The forest was less open, so we had more blind spots to hide in. We just had to make sure none of those giant trees crushed us or whatever.
“We need to hurry, now. The village will be completely lost if we don’t take action.” As we made preparations to reach the surface, we saw the tribeswomen firing arrows and invoking magic against the Spider Phrase.
However, it shrugged off their attacks like they were nothing. As it roared, the creature absorbed all magic in the vicinity, including all of the spells that touched it. It seemed to work in a different way to the Drainbracer, and it wasn’t a nullifying effect like the Demon Lord’s, but either way it was a dangerous power that converted magical energy used against it into more fuel.
The tanned tribal women brandished curved swords and tried facing it once more, but the Phrase simply swung out one of its sharp limbs and gutted them.
“Itsh! Miyohmanah, Tacohdeejeekah! Garinoh!” One young tribal girl barked out what seemed to be orders, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. It was odd to me that I didn’t understand her, as I had kind of just assumed God had given me an omnilingual body or something.
At any rate, she looked to be their leader. At her command, the bow-wielding girls retreated immediately. It looked like they were trying to create a flanking formation in order to let the non-combatants retreat.
One of the enormous creature’s legs suddenly raised in the air, then went bolting toward the shouting woman like a thrown spear.
“[Accel Boost]!” I sped through the trees like a madman, taking the mithril greatsword out of [Storage] as I charged. Just in time to stop her from being impaled, I intercepted the creature’s leg and deflected it away from the girl. In a flash, I grabbed her and took her into my arms. Her eyes went wide with surprise as I leaped backwards, putting a great deal of distance between us and the Spider Phrase.
I set her down, brandishing my blade once more.
“Get to safety, focus on evacuating, and... you have no idea what I’m saying, do you?” I tried to point to her, and then the deeper forest in an attempt to explain through signing. She either didn’t get it or ignored me, choosing to walk up to me instead.
“Emoh. Ortettkoeecheeh. Merkoh! Sahnatoanehko! Boko boko!”
“N-No, I can’t understand you...” I finally took a moment to get a good look at the girl, and realized she was very much the image of a warrior. She brandished an axe in one hand, and was decorated with red war paint all over her body.
She had healthy-looking tanned brown skin, but I was a little unnerved by how little she was wearing. Only a single scrap of fabric bound her chest, and her lower body was covered by a crudely-constructed loincloth. She had sandal-like shoes and improved wraps on her hands, but she was practically fighting half-naked! Something gave me the impression that these tribes lived a very different life to those in the major cities.
This girl’s gotta be around the same age as me, but she’s packing some incredible assets... They’re practically heaving and asking to be freed from behind that chest binding she’s wearing! I quickly realized I was staring a little too south, then immediately rectified the situation.
“Emohoomaynaggredo! Ohcheenakuhoho! Kakanoha! Kellesohrise!” She was ranting and raving about something or other, but I couldn’t tell what she meant. I wondered if she was mad at me for staring.
I pushed such thoughts out of my mind and took my sword into my hand. It was time to face down the enemy. I aimed for one of its legs... And, at the moment my blade angled downwards toward it, I activated [Gravity]. The thin leg was reduced to mere fragments beneath the super-bolstered weight of my greatsword.
“Amazing, it actually worked!” Unfortunately, the shattered leg regenerated within seconds. The creature had absorbed all of the magic the people used against it some time ago. Just as I’d figured, the only way to take this thing out would be to destroy the core.
There were three cores on its head, all lined up in a row. They glowed a faint orange, much like the Manta Phrase cores had in my last encounter.
“Linze, Leen! Give him the old ice one-two!” As I yelled, the two of them began the incantation to cast [Ice Rock], and a massive chunk landed on the spider from above. The Spider Phrase dipped its body for a brief moment, but began to resist the weight, pushing upward with a loud straining sound. Sorry pal, but I can’t let you do that.
I jumped up to the ice block bearing down on it, then activated [Gravity] to increase the block’s weight tenfold.
A slow creaking echoed out as the Spider Phrase strained, and then I heard a new noise. The sound of shattering ice. The enormous rock was unable to support its own weight and began to splinter. Frankly, I was surprised it had held it together for so long to begin with.
The ice buckled, raining down in thin sheets. The Spider Phrase, released from the crushing force, leaped high up in the air. Timing my strike as I fell down toward it, I activated [Gravity] on my greatsword and swung it down at the creature.
“Shatter to pieces, you bastard!” I struck the Spider Phrase with such a force that the ground began to quake.
A shattering sound echoed out as the monster split into thousands of pieces, and yet it was still standing. Regardless of that, I had shattered the head, exposing the cores amongst the ruined fragments. Using Brunhild, I took them out in quick succession.
“Guh...” Somehow, I had done it. It was much easier than the last time, as well. But I guess I had [Gravity] to thank for that. It would’ve been better if I used the spell on the Phrase directly, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. I looked at my greatsword, noticing that the mithril blade had been bent out of shape.
“Emoh... Nonamehotoh?” The brown-skinned girl muttered something, staring in abject amazement. I had no idea what she was saying, but her expressions spoke wonders for her surprise.
I looked around to check on the injured, finding myself staring at a field of fallen people. The situation was bad.
“Target Lock. Target any injured person within a radius of five hundred meters. Invoke [Cure Heal].”
“Understood. Targets acquired. Invoking [Cure Heal].” The voice buzzed out of my smartphone as a magical light enveloped the wounded, gently tending to their injuries. Those who had visible injuries quickly found themselves with no open wounds to speak of.
The young girl, upon seeing my sorcery
, ran toward her collapsed allies.
“My my, that was quite the feat.” Leen sauntered over to me, admiring the wreckage as she strolled. She was right. I wondered how I had even had any trouble against the Manta Phrase. This almost felt too easy.
Leen picked up two pieces of the dead Spider Phrase and lightly tapped them against each other. After that, she firmly smacked the two fragments into each other. They shattered like glass.
What’s happening?
“It seems that a Phrase’s body is about as brittle as glass. What a shame... I thought we’d be able to construct fine weaponry from it.”
Hmph... She had a point. If we had a weapon that could rival the firmness of a Phrase’s body, then even Elze or Yae would be able to go toe-to-toe with one. Well, it seemed that any and all toughness drained from a Phrase upon death. I wonder if we can harvest it for window panes or something...
“Hey Leen, what makes these guys so tough in the first place...? Could it be they’re using fortification magic or something?”
“...Oh, that could be it! Magical defense by using magic as a defense?! If we operate under the assumption that the Phrase have special attributes that let them take in magic and apply them for personal benefit, then...” Leen picked up another two fragments in her hands. This time, she closed her eyes to channel some magic into the pieces, then struck them firmly against each other. A noise echoed out, but the pieces remained intact.
“Amazing, it’s as I thought... The Phrase’s body itself is almost like a spellstone. But what differentiates it from a spellstone is that the Phrase is much more adept at taking in magical power. They’re almost one hundred percent efficient at absorbing magic, even! I had no idea of the potential involved here...”
“I don’t fully understand. Lay it out for me a bit.” Leen was blabbering about something I didn’t fully get, but what else was new?
“To put it simply, if you pour magic into this material, then it will harden to a level that corresponds with the magic absorbed. It regenerates itself because it stores any excess magical power to use as reserve energy. The shell can constantly replenish until the mana inside it is drained entirely.”
In Another World With My Smartphone_Volume 5 Page 3