23 — 2-9 Stragglers

Now then—what was this sudden talk about?

According to him, they had come here for the training of some noble person—basically power leveling.

So they were doing something similar to us.

Though in our case, I was the only one doing the fighting.

And then, he said, a “straggler” had appeared.

An A-rank chimera, apparently.

“A chimera? A high-rank monster like that is too much for a C-rank party like us! Go back to the surface and call for reinforcements!”

Lloyd—the usually quiet warrior—spoke up for once.

Ed turned to me sharply, his voice intense.

“Alphonse-san! Let’s withdraw now. That man’s story was true. A chimera should never be down here. Something is happening in the dungeon. It’s dangerous.”

“Agreed. We should take him with us, return to the surface, and call a rescue team.”

I agreed with them.

This sounded unbelievably bad.

But the old man stubbornly refused to listen.

“No! You lot—come with me right now. We don’t have a moment to spare!”

“Don’t be unreasonable. Against an A-rank monster, the four of us at C-rank can’t handle it, and we’re only here on a training request. We don’t even have the gear to face something like that.”

Ed tried to restrain him with the same argument.

“Then… then I will command you in the name of the royal family. I will requisition you.”

Since someone was suddenly throwing around lofty claims, I cut into their exchange.

“Hold on. They’re adventurers, and I’m a merchant. I don’t belong to this country. I’m only staying at an inn in the Royal Capital, and I don’t even have a residence here. You can’t order me or requisition me.”

“Then what are we supposed to do? If we don’t hurry, His Highness’s life will—!”

Oh? “His Highness,” huh.

I thought for a moment.

I remembered what the village elders had said—that this kingdom was friendly toward rare visitors.

Maybe I could get a decent reward.

Maybe there was some incredible treasure in the royal vault.

Who could say there wasn’t an item in there that I’d need to return to Japan?

So I started recording with my hidden body camera as evidence—so nobody could play dumb later—and then I asked.

“What reward do I get?”

“Alphonse-san!”

Ed’s face was serious, and his voice rose with alarm.

Yeah, I got what you wanted to say, but be quiet for a second.

Negotiation up front mattered.

“Whatever you desire.”

The old man agreed far too casually.

Mm. That sounded suspicious.

He was desperate.

He might be lying.

I needed to pin this down properly.

“If I save this ‘His Highness,’ you’ll give me anything I want? Even something from the royal vault? Or some special magic tool?”

I pressed the point hard.

I didn’t trust him.

“What are you saying?! It’s an A-rank monster. We can’t beat it. Let’s run!”

A capable adventurer with real experience—leading a C-rank party—was desperately trying to stop me.

“This.”

What I held out was a pouch with ten gold coins, and the contract completion papers with the signature already filled in.

Plus camping gear, potions, extra antidotes.

And food and water for their trip back.

I took it all out of my item box.

“Everyone, thanks for everything up to here. You really saved me. These gold coins are a bonus—separate from the guild’s completion reward—my personal thanks.”

“A-Alphonse-san…”

Ed murmured in a voice that sounded like it might fade out.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve still got a few trump cards.”

Though using them in a cramped place like this made me a little uneasy.

I turned back to the old man and pressed him again.

“So what about the reward? You’re sure, right?”

“Uh… th-that is… I can’t decide that on my own…”

Well, well. Suddenly he was stumbling over his words.

Yeah, no.

“Anything you desire” was just an empty promise.

“Hey, did you try to trick me? Fine. Ed, I’m coming back with you. No one risks their life for free.”

“W-wait. All right. I’ll petition the king that way. But I can’t promise it’ll go exactly as you want.”

Now the old man was completely different—timid and weak-kneed.

So it really had been bluster.

I knew it…

“OK. But if there’s any lie in that, I won’t let it go. Swear again properly. If we successfully rescue His Highness, I receive an item of my choosing from the royal vault as my reward. Those are the terms, correct?”

“I will arrange it that way. But I can’t guarantee your wish will be granted. If it can’t be, we will provide a reward in money or some other form instead. I swear it on the name of His Highness Emilio, the third prince of the Albatross royal family.”

Oh? So this old man was the prince’s attendant.

In that case, he might actually be able to make demands of the king.

“OK. Contract accepted. Let’s go.”

Either way, it didn’t sound like I’d return empty-handed.

This was, overall, a pretty favorable development.

The problem was the monster’s strength.

But strangely, I didn’t feel like I’d lose.

For me, in moments like this, things always turned out fine.

Even when it was life-or-death.

Because my all-knowing “that guy inside me” was telling me so.

“Alphonse-san, you’re really going?”

Ed pressed again, worried.

“Yeah. If it gets truly dangerous, I’ll pull back. Old man, you can accept that, right?”

“…It can’t be helped…”

He grimaced.

Sorry—I’m not some prince’s knight.

I’m just a contract adventurer who gets paid after the fact.

But if I’ve agreed, I’ll do my best.

For my own sake.

“By the way, Ed—what kind of monster is a chimera?”

It was late to ask, but I asked anyway.

Information mattered.

“It’s tough. You’ll probably need advanced magic to kill it.”

Ed explained with a troubled look.

“I’ve got a few of those, but the location is bad. And having a VIP we have to protect makes it rough. If we were in the middle of an open plain, it’d be instant. Anything else?”

“Chimeras use powerful magic. They attack in multiple ways at the same time. They’re famous for being absurdly tenacious, and their physical attacks are dangerous too.”

So it was a nasty one.

Still, I had strong attack and defense spells.

And I had a pod loaded with healing magic.

We’d manage.

“Does it cancel our magic or something? Does it have defensive spells?”

High-rank monsters used magic, huh.

Then again, even I—a mere E-rank—could use strong magic.

“I don’t know that much. But A-rank monsters are comparable to S-rank dragons. Normally, more than ten veteran B-rank adventurers gather to subdue one. If you misstep, even then you can get wiped out. To defeat one solo, you need A-rank-level ability. I’m praying for your luck. Honestly, I should be stopping you.”

Ed looked like he’d finally resigned himself to seeing me off.

“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry—thanks. So, old man. Which way is that chimera bastard?”

“This way. Ah, Your Highness—please be safe…”

I hoisted the old man onto my shoulder.

This would be faster.

“W-what are you doing?!”

I didn’t answer—I just started sprinting.

Using my map, I found a nearby slope, dashed down to the fifteenth floor, and reached the scene in under three minutes.

A full-power sprint while avoiding all the weak monsters.

I moved so fast that even when a slime dropped directly over my head, I simply left it behind without a second thought.

The old man I was carrying looked like he was about to pass out.

The creature was in front of a room with a narrowed entrance.

The area was like a small plaza.

Maybe it had once been a monster house too.

From behind cover, I zoomed in with my video camera to confirm it.

A lion’s head, a goat’s torso, a venomous snake tail.

And a pair of bat-like wings.

A monster.

It was huge.

At least ten meters long.

A giant kaiju on the scale of a large dinosaur.

And then there was that ominous five-meter tail.

What a ridiculous monster.

Maybe I really should’ve backed out.

I’d learned a lot of powerful magic, but my combat experience was still nowhere near enough.

Well—if I wanted to gain that experience, this was certainly the place.

At the entrance to the room where the prince seemed to be, there was a strong shield, but the chimera kept blasting it with intense flames.

Every time it exhaled, a wave of heat slammed into me.

Was that what people meant by “breath”?

I set the old man down in a hollow in the cavern and told him—

“Protect yourself.”

Then I added, to the old man still wearing that sour expression,

“It’s wide open like that. An ambush is best. If it fails, I’ll lure it the other way—so you escape upward with the prince.”

“And what will you do?”

“If there’s nobody to get caught in the crossfire, I can do whatever I want. By the way, old man—what’s your name?”

“Ruba.”

“Later, Grandpa Ruba. Leave your precious prince to me.”

I’d been stacking buffs on myself.

Including stealth-type buffs.

And I’d been layering debuffs on the chimera too.

Sensing that and panicking, it stopped breathing fire and spun in place, glaring around as it searched for the enemy.

Ha. Too late.

I burst out and unleashed a full-force Air Cutter.

One infused with top-grade magical power, just for this.

It carved a huge gash into the chimera’s torso—but unfortunately, it didn’t drop.

Still, I cleanly severed one of its thick, meaty wings.

Blood sprayed everywhere, turning the area into a sea of red.

I immediately circled around and delivered the same attack again, severing the other wing.

At this point, it was basically Greek mythology.

Or the tale of Susanoo slaying the eight-headed serpent.

Those mythical heroes took down grotesque monsters without using a single spell—just wisdom and hardened bodies.

They were completely insane.

Even if the chimera couldn’t really fly in this cramped space, losing its wings would still restrict its movement.

Crippling mobility should reduce its overall offensive power too.

The chimera blasted fire at me, but I bounced it off easily with a shield.

But it charged through the flames.

Even with multiple layers of Slow on it, the charge was still powerful.

Something flashed in my mind.

What?

The tail bothered me—strangely.

My eyes were drawn there.

It was hiding it, so I couldn’t see it clearly?

I couldn’t shake the bad feeling.

“This is bad.”

The Seventh Sense whispered certainty in my head.

I gathered massive magical power into another Air Cutter, used Fly, and as I crossed past it, I sliced off the tail.

A massive tail—nearly five meters—writhed violently.

I immediately jammed a mithril spear into the snake’s head to pin it down.

It had probably been about to spit poison.

Close one.

Since the tail kept twitching and getting in the way, I repeatedly skewered it with spears until it looked like a long specimen display.

Even after losing that much blood, the chimera didn’t seem weakened at all.

What kind of vitality was that?

In a dungeon that constantly spawned monsters, was it regenerating blood and flesh from the overflowing miasma?

If I used overly powerful magic right now, the prince might be in danger.

I stacked Slow even further on the chimera.

On my side, it was Fast, Fast, Fast—full acceleration mode.

As I sprinted past, I provoked it with a spear of magical metal, then ran.

I unfolded a radar map in my mind and kept running deeper, following it.

I’d learned tricks like that recently.

Do your job properly, old man.

To keep it from turning back, I occasionally tossed a light Fireball to maintain aggro, and after about five minutes of chase, we emerged into a wide open space.

Now we were good.

This was the situation I’d been waiting for.

Perfectly convenient.

I hit it with the advanced spell Thunder Rain.

If lightning went well, it should cause paralysis too.

A storm of lightning strikes that blanketed the entire open space.

I’d cast Silent, so the sound wouldn’t harm me.

Since lightning generated extreme heat and rapidly expanded the air, it also produced a violent shockwave—but I forced it back with my shield.

So this was what advanced magic looked like.

It was an incredible sight.

Normally, this was not the kind of spell you used in cramped spaces.

Wrapped in purple lightning, the chimera smoked and collapsed—then started getting back up.

Tch. Even advanced magic at level 1 wasn’t enough.

If the MP cost was the same, apparently higher levels were stronger.

Was that like magic proficiency?

Ah—Thunder Rain had reached level 2.

I hit it again.

This time, the monster roared and braced on all fours, refusing to fall.

Seriously?

What kind of freak was it?

Fine—then we do this as a battle of endurance until you drop.

At least its movement seemed slowed.

Maybe the paralysis effect was active.

Continuous attacks were best.

Two more casts pushed Thunder Rain to level 3.

But the chimera—half-charred and smoking—still braced on all fours and roared loudly.

Come on.

Are you an immortal monster or what?

I cast the gravity-type advanced spell Gravity, and even it finally stopped moving.

As if pulled by its resistance, Gravity rose to level 2.

Then I hit it with Thunder Rain again.

And I bound its feet with the earth-based restraint spell Earth Bind.

Even immobilized, the chimera kept roaring nonstop.

This thing had cockroach-tier vitality!

All right, enough.

I could test other spells, but I was pretty short-tempered.

I didn’t want to approach a rampaging kaiju with my bare body, so I forced absurd, maximum-limit magical power into a beginner-level Air Cutter and brutally, forcibly severed its head.

The resistance I felt was something else.

Like trying to lift a load at the absolute limit with a forklift—the lever felt unbearably heavy.

The lever doesn’t literally become heavier, but the load resists, and it doesn’t rise easily, so it feels heavy.

Magic had a similar sensation.

In this case, it was “full power, but it still won’t cut.”

Like slicing a pumpkin with a dull kitchen knife.

How hard was this thing?!

A true blockhead.

But finally, even the chimera seemed to die. The severed head stopped roaring.

If it didn’t die after that, it’d be a zombie.

And even zombies should go down once you smash the head, right?

I collected the corpse properly.

It would sell for a high price later.

Man, I had to thank the guildmaster.

Without all these spells, I’d have had to use physical weapons.

I probably wouldn’t have been able to escape in the first place.

I wasn’t naturally fast.

I’d have had to shove an explosive into its mouth like in Earth legends.

Even with MP to spare, that would’ve been the worst move possible.

If it had some strange defensive magic, strong healing, or anti-spell effects, I would’ve been in real trouble.

It was good I took out the wings first—and crushed the tail before it could spray poison.

And I absolutely needed to level up my spells across the board.

It never hit me with a magic combo, which was also fortunate.

Maybe its attacks were mainly fire—or maybe my ambush and early damage changed its behavior.

Either way, I should remember one thing.

This probably wasn’t the chimera’s full strength.

With this, ranking up to D-rank seemed guaranteed.

And if the old man tried to cheat me on the reward, it would still be worth it.

More than anything, I was grateful I got real combat experience against a powerful enemy—under relatively favorable conditions.