by Fuse
Report. The subject Gobwe is older in years than the subject Gobta.
Dude. Really? Man, I have the worst trouble telling these monsters apart. I know Gobta’s evolved way past from when I first saw him, but looks-wise, it was that exact same dopey face. So should I expect some kind of breathtaking transformation from him in the future?
Either way, seeing this tiny girl lecture a paladin before my eyes almost made me chuckle a bit. This wasn’t an uphill battle at all. If anything, for Team Reborn right now, it was a pretty steep downhill one. Unless the paladins were careful enough to bring an antidote along or had a natural skill to resist poison, there was no resisting this sneak attack. It’d only work once, of course, but damn, was it effective.
Still, it was rapidly coming to an end. There were yet more paladins in the group, and they weren’t going to let up now. Trickery like this wouldn’t work so easily against such overwhelming force—and now that they’d seen how the trick worked, we couldn’t expect an encore performance. The only reason Team Reborn could land those little nicks and cuts was because the paladins let their guards down after ripping them to shreds, after all.
Still, those nicks and cuts had successfully knocked half of the enemy out of the battle, and that was more than praiseworthy. Talk about overachieving. Now to return to the original plan, which called for a protracted battle of attrition as the paladins— No, I was being proven wrong again.
Shion gave the figures in front of her a signal with her chin. It was targeted at Gobzo and Gobwa, who looked at each other, then Shion, incredulously.
“You wish for us to join in?”
“Aren’t you going to join?!” Gobzo asked. “’Cuz if it’s just us, I don’t think it’ll be easy to beat those guys!”
“No,” Gobwa explained, “I think it’s all right if we don’t win, as long as we can buy some time…”
“Huhhh?! I thought we were ordered to win at all costs!”
Gobwa, standing guard by the meeting-hall door, knew what we had discussed in there. Gobzo didn’t and was totally floored by the news. Something wasn’t adding up here, was it?
“Um,” Gobwa asked Shion, sensing Gobzo’s disquiet, “during our strategy meeting, we were supposed to be on standby, weren’t we…?”
Yeah. They were. I thought something was weird about it. Good to hear my mind isn’t playing tricks on me. But Shion wasn’t having it. “What are you fools talking about?!” she roared. “We have victory within reach; can’t you see that?! Securing victory against a stronger foe is how you can climb over the wall to the next level! You’re being given a golden opportunity! You should thank me for this!”
I…wasn’t sure if I agreed with these statements. Victory was within reach, but our foes were stronger? A bit contradictory, isn’t it? But Gobwa was convinced, a twinkle appearing in her eyes as she smiled defiantly.
“Yes. Yes, you’re right. Allow Team Kurenai to seize this opportunity!”
Gobzo, meanwhile…
“Uh, ummm… Isn’t that, like, ignoring orders or something?”
It took a lot of guts to ask Shion that question, but Shion immediately shot him down. “You’re still here?! Either you do what you’re told, or you’ll become the test subject for my latest kitchen delights. Is that the decision you wanna make?!”
The threat was all too real to Gobzo. Whether he was convinced by her arguments or not, he dove straight into battle.
…I can’t say he was wrong. But it was weird. The way the other two framed it, this was now all Gobzo’s fault. Gobwa, as befitting one of Benimaru’s fighters, was always ready for a scrap, which made it easier to convince her. Gobzo, despite his slack-jawed look, was a far more honest, upright person. Unfortunately, that often drove him to say things he was better off not saying, which always blew up in his face. Maybe he had it coming sometimes, but if he did, he never realized it. Still, he seemed pretty content overall, so I opted not to intervene.
“…Are you sure this is all right, Benimaru?”
Benimaru shrugged back. “No, but playing it by ear is sometimes a necessity in battle. Shion, in particular, has a keen instinct for this. She gives orders like that because she senses victory, I think.”
True. I had gone for a more passive approach, asking them to buy time because I thought they couldn’t win—but if we could neutralize this threat with no casualties, no need to go easy.
I turned my attention toward the battlefield.
Things were really starting to ramp up. Team Reborn was taking on the remaining fifty paladins, two team members per opponent with one Team Kurenai fighter providing backup. In a full-on battle, Kurenai fell behind the paladins in strength, but not by an insurmountable gap. The paladins were ranked A, but the lower end of A, while Team Kurenai was about as close to A as you could get without crossing the line. With the right support, it could actually turn into a decent fight.
Plus, Kurenai had backup on-site, substituting in if one of their team fell or was growing exhausted. We had all the potion we needed, so the cycle could keep going semi-perpetually.
“What a powerhouse they are,” marveled Alvis. “Imagine, another force of that caliber serving your nation?” Her eyes were not pointed toward Kurenai, but Reborn—battle hardy (immortal, you could say) and ready to fight for as long as it took.
“Yeah,” Sufia replied with a nod, “they’re trouble. Not even decapitation can stop ’em. I bet they’d give us a workout.”
They had high praise for Team Reborn, and even I was fairly surprised. The paladins, meanwhile, had no backup support. If this keeps up, we might even have a chance at this.
“Yeah, I wasn’t really planning for this, but…”
I vaguely nodded back at them.
Shion, meanwhile, licked her lips as she appreciatively watched the battle unfold. I caught a glimpse of the wet sheen on the tip of her tongue. She turned toward me, sensing our presence, and gave us a broad grin. It was hard to imagine it, really, given the mask of terror she gave Gobzo a second ago.
“The plan is working, Sir Rimuru!”
“What are you, nuts? This wasn’t the plan at all!”
“Your praise is such an honor, my lord!”
“I wasn’t praising you…”
“Now, I must go!”
With that, she planted her feet on the ground and took off like a bullet, leaving me in the dust.
“Uh, go where…?”
She was like the wind, using her extended senses to weave effortlessly through the twisty trees. The elemental spirits infused her body as she zoomed headlong through the forest.
Upon reaching a clearing, Hinata encountered five high-level magic-born. They had spotted her coming, but their eyes were focused on a much more faraway sight. Following their lead, Hinata spotted her people, the noble paladins, facing what could soon become a bitter defeat.
She painfully sighed, holding in her emotions. The defeat didn’t anger her. What did was the way this whole thing broke down into hostilities so quickly. With battle underway, negotiation could no longer be hoped for. Whatever kind of internal subterfuge was going on with Hinata’s side, that wasn’t Rimuru’s problem.
Rimuru, meanwhile, just stood there, watching the battle as calmly as Hinata. Both of them were quietly thinking to themselves, gauging the forces of their opponent.
On Rimuru’s side were four powerful magic-born, plus a woman in a suit emitting an eerie aura. The two women in front appeared to be lycanthropes, former servants of Carillon, judging by the reports. It seemed likely they were part of the famed Three Lycanthropeers, of the former Beast Master’s Warrior Alliance; their mere appearance drove run-of-the-mill magic-born away from them.
But the other two figures lined up with them were no pushovers, either. On one side of the lycanthropes, there was a dashing figure with red hair and two black horns. On the other was a young blue-haired one with a single white horn.
“The Three Lycanthropeers?” Arnaud promptly whispered to H
inata when he caught up to her. “And are those ogres… No, ogre mages?”
Hinata kept her eyes on them. “No. They’re oni.”
“Oni?”
“I’ve heard of them. Monsters whose magical powers put them on the level of regional gods. Some pagan religions even worship them as deities, I read.”
“Yeah. They’re part of the evolution ladder up from ogres, but only a very few of them ever reach that level. But here they are, right in front of us. Consider each one to be a Special A-ranked threat.”
This was demon lord territory, and they were uninvited guests. Arnaud and the others were all too aware of that. Hinata, meanwhile, was worried that even Special A might be selling them short a little. That red-haired one, in particular, seemed to have more force than a would-be demon lord. If they ever came to blows, she would want Arnaud and at least two other commanders on her side—but they had four magic-born, and there were only four Crusader officers to go around. That couldn’t be a coincidence; Rimuru must have arranged the numbers that way.
And then there was the demon lord himself. His presence was overwhelming, nothing like their previous encounter.
“I’ll take you on. You and me, in a one-on-one duel.”
The words flashed back into Hinata’s mind.
Yeah… Yeah. You wanted a duel with me, didn’t you? Because you didn’t want any distractions?
If that’s what it came to, she at least wanted him to take her life and spare her soldiers. No— She wanted him to win, and win overwhelmingly, then accept her apology.
In secret, without telling a soul, she prepared herself.
She noticed the female magic-born in the suit begin to move, letting out a concussive wave of force as she flew toward the faraway Renard. Rimuru was there, watching her go—and when he was done, ever so slowly, his eyes turned toward Hinata.
Their eyes met.
Oh, brother. I mean, seriously, oh, brother. But everything was still within what we predicted. No issues so far.
So I turned around. Hinata was standing there, looking cool, collected, not even out of breath. She must’ve been watching the battle, just like I was. Her gaze met mine. We just stood there a few moments, staring at each other. I finally spoke first.
“Well, Hinata, now you’ve done it. I imagine you don’t need to be reminded, but this is my territory. The moment you staged military action within our borders, that was enough to make me assume you’re hostile. I’m a nice guy, but not nice enough to allow you to strike at us first, you know?”
…Which, well, if we got into a “who shot first” argument, then the truth was murkier. But that doesn’t matter! We were guaranteed to lose if they launched a Holy Field, so of course I was gonna send Shion out ahead. If Hinata started whining at me about that, she was barking up the wrong tree.
“Yes,” Hinata calmly replied, “that much I can tell. I have no idea why Renard disobeyed orders, either.”
Talk about shameless.
“Oh, sure. You killed Reyhiem so you could pin the blame on us, didn’t you? And now Farmus’s new king has all the momentum in the world behind him.”
“Killed Reyhiem…?”
“Yeah. Archbishop Reyhiem. You called him back there, remember? All I did was give him that message for you. Nothing else.”
For just a moment, Hinata looked thoroughly confused, but beyond that, her expression was a mask of indifference. Her cold eyes drilled into me, sizing me up. She may have been beautiful, but that only added further polish to that numbing look.
“Oh… I see,” she whispered.
“You did get the message, right?”
“Yes. I did.”
“And this is your answer?”
“Well…not exactly, but you wouldn’t believe me if I said that, would you?”
Not exactly how?
“Oh, I could. But before that, you have to order them to cease hostilities and return home.”
I pointed at the pair locked in combat with Shion. She looked where I was pointing, then softly shook her head.
“I don’t know if I can. I think it’s going to be over before I step in.”
Good point. That was…Renard, right? He was the strongest dude on the field, and Shion wasn’t holding back against him. And someone else, too—not quite as strong as Renard, but still up there. I assumed they were both among the Ten Great Saints, but Shion was taking them both on, letting her inner monster shine. Geez. If that’s how thick it’s gotten, we don’t have much choice except to let them duke it out till they’re done.
It peeved me a little to accept Hinata’s excuse, but I didn’t think she’d be able to satisfy my conditions.
“What are you talking about?!” one of the younger knights shouted with resentment before I could speak. “If Lady Hinata calls our forces back, what will happen to her? You’re the one who called her here; how do we know you won’t do anything to her?!”
Sounds like they had no intention of talking this out from the beginning…
“Silence,” Benimaru replied. “The only people with permission to speak here are Sir Rimuru and Hinata Sakaguchi. You were not called here. Know your place.”
“What?”
The knight was unfazed. The next instant, a flash of swords erupted in front of Benimaru. One of them, belonging to the knight called Arnaud, was breezily deflected away by a casual swipe from Benimaru’s blade.
“Not a killer blow, was it? A smart choice. If you were intent upon killing me, you’d be on the ground right now.”
“I didn’t want to get in the way of Lady Hinata’s negotiations. I was just prodding you a bit, although I wasn’t expecting you to react. I don’t want you to have the wrong idea.”
“The only one with the wrong idea is you.”
“Heh-heh. How about we continue this conversation away from the action?”
“Very well.”
Arnaud gave him a smile, although I could see a vein throbbing over his temple. He can dish out the trash talk, I thought as they walked off, but he certainly couldn’t take it. Out of the four members of Hinata’s entourage, that Arnaud guy was undoubtedly the strongest. That was why Benimaru chose to take action. Perfect. I was certain Arnaud would occupy him well enough without any murder involved, just like I liked it.
Hinata just watched them go, rolling her eyes instead of trying to stop him. She must have noticed that Arnaud was no match for Benimaru, but she let him go anyway.
“All right,” Alvis said, “you all could use some entertainment, too, no? I would be glad to occupy your time for a while, so we don’t get in Sir Rimuru’s way.”
“Yeah,” added Sufia, “I’ve always wanted to test out the might of the Ten Great Saints!”
They set off. Maybe this was their motivation all along; I don’t know. Sufia was kind of a war maniac like that.
“Let me join you.”
“Very well… I’ll take you on.”
The four tramped off. All that remained was Soei and the lone female paladin.
“Shall we?”
“I suppose so,” she said, no doubt reading the atmosphere on the field.
This, um, wasn’t exactly what I had planned. I mean, they didn’t have to physically march off like that. Except for Benimaru, those three pairs acted more like they were pairing off for dates than fighting. You don’t have to exchange blows, guys. Sheesh.
Besides, I’m fighting a woman myself. The most beautiful one, no less. Not that I’m getting much enjoyment out of it.
…All joking aside, we were now left fully alone. I suppose this was inevitable.
It was time for my rematch with Hinata.
CHAPTER 5
HOLY AND DEMONIC COLLIDE
The battle began.
Renard was the vice captain of the Crusader forces, commanding them as they caught up with Hinata on her journey. He himself wasn’t a paladin, exactly—he was a Holy Wizard, a master of sorcerous magic. That was a special class, one that only those who mastere
d elemental, aspectual, and holy magic could claim to be.
And yet, Renard was just as adept with a sword, using his own to lead several missions. Even hiding his Holy Wizard side, he was still laudable enough as a paladin to serve as a commander and eventual Crusader vice captain. It all came down to his talents—those beautiful sword skills. If Arnaud’s sword was a blunt weapon, Renard’s had a softer touch. Both were exemplary fighters, but Arnaud had a slight edge, thanks to the tenacity that never failed him in battle. In a knockdown drag-out against a formidable monster, beautiful technique was often less important than brute force. That difference earned Arnaud the crown among his peers.
But thanks to that genius-level magic skill, Renard had proven himself more than worthy as a spellcasting swordsman. His physical technique wasn’t quite up to Arnaud’s standard, but if he fought in a more standard magic/sword hybrid style instead of hiding the sorcery like he usually did, he was just as phenomenal a talent. In fact, as Renard himself gauged it, he could probably outclass Arnaud in strength.
To a paladin, however, one’s proficiency in aspectual magic wasn’t really part of the evaluation. It was more of a given, with some paladins even capable of fusing their own elemental spirits with aspectual magic to launch powerful spells with no casting time. Aspectual magic, by itself, took longer to cast than spirit magic—and while it was often more powerful, in close-range combat, speed was the most important priority.
Renard was no exception to that maxim, hence his focus on sword skill. True strength, as he saw it, lay at the end of his quest to master the blade. Adding holy elements to his almost divinely quick thrusts allowed him to slice though pretty well anything, as he saw it.
This thought was with him ever since an experience that still rang vividly in his mind. Back when he was a student, he studied abroad in a small nation that fell under the threat of the demon lord Valentine. It was Hinata, freshly ordained as a paladin at the time, who came to the rescue; and in a word, she was strong. A single swipe of her rapier obliterated waves of teeming monsters. Even demons several times a human’s size were helplessly mowed down. Hinata’s arrival saved that nation’s people from the desperation they faced, and ever since then, Renard found himself attracted to the charms of the sword.