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Chapter 323 – Monster
“Is this the end?”
“Ha… ah…”
I couldn’t utter a sound in response to the words of the kid who rose like a ghost from behind the fallen Griva with a dagger still stuck in his left hand.
Why isn’t he asleep?
Where did that great sword come from?
Why was a monster that should have been high-ranking, even among A-rank monsters, killed so easily?
Questions surged like a massive wave, clogging my throat like a traffic jam. Yet the first thing that came out was a question about something I didn’t understand.
“What does that mean?”
“No, I was just wondering if there are other rare monsters.”
As he looked around, saying this, I felt a little relieved, thinking that maybe he was still wary of me.
He was a mysterious child who couldn’t be read by my Mind’s Eye.
Judging from the weapon materials he possessed, he seemed to have A-rank strength. But this kid probably couldn’t gauge my abilities either.
In that case, I’d play it up.
Griva wasn’t my only combat asset.
I hadn’t expected things to come to this. My hidden reserve forces consisted of only one monster that wasn’t particularly suited for combat.
But in an emergency, such considerations couldn’t be made.
“Hmph, that’s obvious. Griffons are the weakest of the monsters I keep.”
The D-rank Bayblizzard and the B-rank Soldier Ants waited silently behind me for instructions. But my opponent was just a child—there was no way he could tell the rank of a monster just by looking at it.
More important than that right now was to intimidate this child as much as possible and buy time to regroup.
With that in mind, my words seemed to hit the mark perfectly.
The boy before me trembled slightly, hugging himself as he drew his body closer.
“Then bring them here right now!”
“…Huh?”
“Hurry up and bring them all here. If you don’t, you’ll die soon, you know?”
“…”
I didn’t understand.
Why would anyone want the enemy’s forces to grow?
This should have been the most obvious thing in the world, but this kid didn’t look like he was putting on a brave front at all. On the contrary, his eyes shone, and he wore an ecstatic expression.
Something… was off.
A cold sweat broke out all over my body, mixed with wariness. I had to figure out how to get out of this situation.
My thoughts circled solely around that one point.
“Kill me? Are you serious?”
“Well, you came here to kill us, so it’s only natural, isn’t it?”
“I only put you to sleep…”
A desperate excuse.
As expected, it wasn’t just useless; it was seen through.
“I heard your earlier exchange, you know? The ones behind you are soldier ants, skilled at digging. You planned to take us back to a temporary burrow to avoid leaving traces and then have your little feast, right? You figured that, on this parched land where barely any grass grows, a burrow dug up far away wouldn’t stand out at all.”
“…”
“So, with this many Bayblizzards—were you planning to use them to pull a carriage instead of horses? They’re stronger than horses. With such disciplined monsters, you could probably transport things smoothly without a coachman. Monster summoning is more useful than I imagined.”
“You’re a mercenary, too, aren’t you? I don’t know what possessed you to get involved. If you know this case involves nobility, why are you getting mixed up in it?”
“Nobility… You mean Baron Olan?”
“Hmph, so you do know. Then it’s best for your own good to back off. If you want to continue working as a mercenary—”
“So Baron Olan is involved after all?”
Words of panic escaped before I could finish.
And no wonder.
For mercenaries, nobles are a weak spot.
Taking their jobs can be lucrative, but becoming their enemy is never a good idea.
Seizing this opportunity, I tried to intimidate him with the facts.
“Huh… So you’re a mercenary working for Baron Olan…”
Again.
I felt that same strange, unsettling atmosphere again.
The child smiled, lifting both corners of his mouth like a crescent moon.
“I did expect it, you know. But Baron Olan being corrupt, too… Such ‘scoundrels’ must be thoroughly cleaned out, don’t you think?”
“A-are you serious?”
An unexpected declaration of hostility toward the nobleman.
It didn’t seem like empty bluster meant only for this moment.
He showed no sign of worrying about the consequences. His eyes, staring at something unseen, were deadly serious.
Damn it.
Threats probably won’t work on this crazy kid.
Mentioning my mercenary faction probably meant nothing to him—he’d never seen us before.
If he were a mercenary from another country, naming a top-ranked mercenary wouldn’t feel like much of a threat.
But this was timely.
The plan had been exposed this far.
Even if I forced my way out, failing on a noble-related contract would mean that I wouldn’t get any decent work in this country for the foreseeable future.
Then, make up your mind.
This kid, whose true strength is unknown, has to die here, no matter what. That’s the only path left for me.
“You crazy brat!”
“More importantly, are the other monsters here yet? I’ve been waiting forever.”
“Hmph, they’re right under your feet already! Bite down, Sandra. Aaah!”
Whoosh.
Was relying on sight just a trap…?
The White Worm should have burst forth from the ground with a gaping maw at the command. Instead, it lay gasping for breath right beside me, its face smeared with blood and rock.
I’ve never seen it like this before.
What happened to reduce it to this state?
“I know it was digging its way slowly from afar. That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean other monsters. There must be more—much more, right?”
“How could such hard soil be dug so easily? Wait, what did you do to Sandra!?”
“This big worm? I knew it was coming for me, so I set up some hard stone spikes at my feet.”
“…”
“How?”
I suppressed the question that flashed through my mind, knowing it wasn’t the time for that. I immediately gave the order.
“Hey, don’t sleep, Sandra! Cling onto that thing no matter what! Ants, it’s acid! Just spit acid!”
This is absolutely, genuinely my last card up my sleeve.
If I can’t succeed with this, I’ll have no choice but to flee.
But if I can catch him, or even if I have to self-destruct to do it, and drench him in acid, I will be victorious.
It should be unshakable.
“Why…?”
I could tell the boy in front of me was muttering something under his breath.
But that was all I could make out.
For some reason, my right hand was covered in black mist, and immediately, a massive tornado formed, centered on the boy.
In that instant, my pet monsters were torn to shreds.
The brat at the center should have been drenched in acid, too.
His clothes were melting away, proving it, yet the brat’s body, glimpsed through the gaps between my flying comrades, showed absolutely no damage.
It’s… no good.
I ordered Bayblizzard and the others to devour the other humans and signaled Roton and Eton, the magic birds, to make an emergency escape.
This should buy me some time.
There are beings in this world that exist beyond comprehension.
This one is surely of that sort. It’s doubtful that it’s even human to begin with.
I worked so hard to command the Dream Theater and to achieve my status as a Ranker mercenary.
Even if I have to abandon everything, I must survive.
At least I still have Roton and Eton.
In a new land, I’ll rebuild bit by bit.
As I ascended through the air, I clutched each of their legs with one hand.
BANG!
I turned back at the thunderous sound and saw that an odd black mist had formed on the ground for some reason.
Was that a follow-up attack using dark magic?
My body tensed, but upon closer inspection, I saw that it was the same object of terror I’d seen moments ago.
Something sprouting from its back seemed to writhe in darkness.
“Gah… Roton, Eton! Hurry up! Get me out of here now!”
That thing was clearly not human.
If it grabbed me, it would surely devour me.
Faster, faster, faster, faster!
But that plea was futile.
The creature approaching at a speed far surpassing that of the demon bird still wore a crescent-moon smile.
“Aaah…”
“Gotcha♪.”
The monster grasped my head and murmured that in a cheerful voice.
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