134 — 13 (15)

The Horn Bow unit was still in training, so it would take a little time. That meant they had to defend this place in the meantime. Louis was nocking a third arrow. He felt it every time he used it, but the Horn Bow really was an exceptional piece of equipment. The sensation in his grip improved by the day. Not only he himself, but surely all the members of the Horn Bow unit felt the same. Which one would make a good next target?

It did not take long to decide. The monsters were increasing as though waves were rolling in. There had been six or seven circling the sky, but now they had increased to dozens, making it look like mushrooms sprouting up. It would be perfect if Green Skins appeared too, would it not? His soldiers were frightened, but Louis rather wished even more would come. The largest of the monsters floating in the air flashed its yellow eyes and then dived downward. Thanks to the work in progress, the soldiers were somewhat scattered, so the formation had not fully taken shape, and perhaps because of that, it successfully bit one soldier. Unlucky as he was, it seized a young soldier who had only just shed the look of adolescence by the nape of the neck. Whether he was convulsing alive or convulsing dead, it was impossible to tell, but in any case, the most threatening creature had become his next target.

The fourth arrow struck the monster in the head. It seemed to have smashed straight into the front of its thick-skinned skull, because there was a metallic clang, and then it spat out the soldier it had been holding and rolled across the ground like a dog. The dried earth greedily drank in the splattered blood as if it had been waiting for it, and though the limp soldier was still convulsing, it seemed he had died of shock. This was more of a problem than the barbarians, then. To stabilize the city of Gedria, it seemed he would have to thin these creatures out considerably. The armed escort guarding him today was Anok. His expression was thoroughly fired up, but he did not move rashly. Until an order was given, his greatest and most important duty was to protect Louis. Since Anok was out, Mihoff was off duty. No… she was probably peacefully napping atop an old tree.

Anok dragged out an “Ah…….” before reporting to Louis.

“Your Grace, more are coming.”

“Anok. You will take the front.”

“I cannot leave your side, because I must guard Your Grace.”

“Do I look like I would be taken down by things like those?”

Anok awkwardly scratched his head.

“It does not seem likely, but…”

“Then move. Even if I get a scratch, I will not hold you responsible. Go and loosen yourself up a bit.”

He hesitated for quite some time, but perhaps he really did want to swing his spear, because he soon changed his attitude and said,

“Understood.”

In any case, ten more had appeared. After firing several more shots, even his quiver was empty. Louis drew his longsword in a long sweep. Contrary to the bleak sound it made when drawn, the smooth naked blade, as though dozens of craftsmen had rushed in and added painstaking effort to it, entered his sight. At the same time, the monsters began to fall one by one like a shower. If there was a problem, it was that they were not as light as raindrops. Naturally, one fell toward him as well, and since it seemed quite hungry, drooling and all, he struck it with his sword. Perhaps because the monster had let its guard down, it seemed to have been mortally wounded by his longsword loaded with a considerable amount of mana in a single strike. The longsword was stopped with a thunk by some long bone whose identity he could not tell, whether skull, spine, or tailbone, and trembled. Even with a blow into which he had poured this much mana, he had not been able to cleanly cut through a single bone, so its insides seemed harder than expected.

“Krrrk…”

After letting out a single cry mixed with bloody foam, it crashed down askew to the side. By the time that rolling creature had sunk into deep sleep on the soft ground, Louis was already cutting down another. Perhaps they did recognize that one of their own kind had died, because the attacks became fiercer. But in the end, centered on Louis, the soldiers formed their ranks.

The heaviest attacks were falling on the center where Louis stood and on Anok at the front. Even amidst the chaos, the soldiers’ mouths were hanging open at the exploits of the two. It made sense for Anok, since he was an armed escort, but Louis’s swordsmanship stood out especially. Each time the two of them cut down those savage beasts with great strides, the soldiers’ morale showed no sign of falling.

As Anok continued to strike blow after blow with his thick spear shaft hard enough to crack skulls, he kept glancing at Louis just in case, and indeed, he really was a Sword Expert. Each time the longsword flashed, a monster was cut apart, and there was so little strain in the movements that they felt stable.

When the Horn Bow unit hurried over under orders several dozen minutes later, the situation had already ended. What lay in a tangled mess across the ground were monsters, and amid soldiers scattered here and there, Louis was, just then, wiping his sword on a monster’s fur. That relaxed back view was enough to astonish the Horn Bow unit, who had been beside themselves with worry that Louis might have been injured.

The surroundings were a wreck, enough that some thirty infantrymen brought for labor duty had died, which meant it had indeed been a dangerous moment, but it also meant that Louis possessed seriously formidable swordsmanship for a mere ruler.

Louis immediately sent the Horn Bow unit, who had arrived in haste, to clear the surrounding area. Then he reinforced the remaining forces and ordered them to intensively dig up this place. Akiteia arrived late with troops and came to the place where Louis had fought. Even one as seasoned as he could not help but be flustered upon coming to this eerie land, and the surroundings were that grimly chaotic. The avian monsters, creatures he had never seen in his life, had teeth resembling those of wild beasts. Just imagining such things pouring down like a swarm of bees was horrifying enough. Had it been him, he would have gone straight back inside and taken a rest. Yet Louis, far from resting, was busy consoling the dead soldiers and issuing all sorts of orders. Just what was he trying to obtain here by digging up the ground? Was there treasure buried here? Since Louis sometimes acted without explanation, leaving behind many questions, Akiteia went over and asked him.

“Ah, of course there is treasure. You will see it soon.”

Louis said only that and gave no further explanation, so Akiteia came to think that the barbarians had really buried gold here and began digging with the soldiers of his house. And after a long while, what appeared was not treasure, but ominous black liquid slowly welling up.

Ding.

Louis opened the map and confirmed the special resource fully revealed in the outskirts of Gedria.

‘In that case, that makes one more resource that can be produced within my territory.’

Akiteia muttered with a dumbfounded expression, “This is treasure?” The soldiers too were greatly startled, perhaps because it was water from cursed land, and many of them looked distressed. Perhaps Duke Louis had made a mistake this time. That water must not be touched. It must be buried again. While all sorts of such talk arose, Louis climbed down into the dug-out pit and scooped up a little Black Water with his hand. It could not help but be a powerfully striking scene to the soldiers, to Akiteia, and to Anok, all of whom had until now found even looking at it burdensome. Then Louis said a single line.

“This is not cursed water or anything of that sort. This is a catalyst that will be used in a new age.”

When Louis said that, the soldiers who had been looking at it ominously with preconceptions instantly cast aside those feelings. This was what it meant to trust, follow, and have faith in someone. The soldiers believed Louis, and if Louis said it was not cursed water, then they began to judge that it was not. Only Akiteia still seemed doubtful, but the Orsini Spessart, who soon arrived, swept away even that suspicion.

“How peculiar. I sensed a great quantity of magic power and came, only to witness such an interesting sight. Th-this is liquid like a mana stone.”

In the world, mana and magic power coexisted as two separate things. Mages used magic power. What had been discovered until now were mana stones, but using mana stones to make special equipment was quite difficult and not very efficient. But this liquid could fulfill that role. It was nothing less than a revolution for mages. He was so excited that, veins standing out, he poured out to Louis just what an extraordinary discovery this was. Akiteia wore a blank, stunned expression, and Spessart was shaken by Louis’s single remark.

“That is why I told you. A revolution is about to begin.”

“It truly cannot be accepted. I thought it might be able to change the world… Was I too hasty? But I do not have much time left. I do not have enough time either to see the world change or to change it into a better one….”

The mage lamenting deeply was Archmage Euclid. The old man, wearing a drooping, worn, shabby gray robe that hid even his face, had almost given up after interpreting the sixty-two booklets for twenty years, but then they were miraculously solved through an interpretation so unexpected that he could only think the gods had helped him. He had risen at dawn that day and, together with several disciples, used all his strength to unravel the final keys, and after quietly considering the matter, he judged that it was the will of the gods that this knowledge be contributed to humanity rather than used for selfish desire, so he handed copies to his disciples spread across the nations of the world. However, although he was one of the thirteen authoritative and famous sages of the Mage Tower, he was far removed from power, so he was soon attacked by other mages and had fallen into a difficult situation. They planned to monopolize the knowledge thoroughly within the Mage Tower alone, and by colluding with the royals and nobles of each nation, they had driven Euclid’s great discovery into being dismissed as useless. Since the Empire, the nation that should have accepted it first, had rejected Euclid for various reasons, nowhere in the world had there been the reaction Euclid had hoped for.

“Master! Master! Arimeus has sent a reply.”

“……Arimeus?”

“Yes. It is said that a certain lord of the Duchy of Eron is actively accepting Magitech! Furthermore, Black Water is also said to be coming from his territory.”

“Wh-what.. Is that true?”

Among all the rulers in the world, Louis alone was the very first to begin acting without any hesitation. It would be revealed after only a little time that Euclid had not been lying, but at this moment, when everyone was rejecting it because of strong preconceptions and fierce power struggles, the world was more rigid than Louis had worried it might be, and Louis had naturally gained time.

“What is the name of that lord?”

“It is said to be Pontina Louis.”

“Ah, I have heard of him. You mean the young man who escaped the arrest of Sir Evantes the Inquisitor and received the Pope’s blessing. Surely it is certain that God is protecting him. He is someone who can change the world. The Pope and I are not on good terms, but on this much we are of one mind. Still, regrettably, he is not a king but a lord….. It seems I must help him. Since he is said to be interested in Magitech, if I persuade him a little more about the degree of that interest, I may be able to receive funding from him. At present, all the subsidies we had been receiving from various countries have been cut off…”

“Master, do you mean to say… that you intend to leave the Mage Tower?”

“That is right. For the time being, I shall leave my seat vacant. It seems that helping him rapidly prove Magitech and then preaching its usefulness to the other rulers comes first.”

“Understood. I will send a letter to Orsini Arimeus and prepare horses.”