Night Forest
Leon’s horse-drawn carriage ran smoothly along the highway.
“Isn’t it a bit slow?”
Solon complained, but the speed of a carriage is pretty much the same no matter who’s driving it, and it’s not much different from walking.
That night we decided to camp outdoors, so in an open area within the forest, we gathered around a campfire for the first time in a while.
“We didn’t make many good memories in Ludonia, but the beds there were absolutely the best,”
Solon grumbled, having become completely accustomed to high-quality beds.
“Oh my, was there actually a place where Solon had good memories? Like inside your mother’s womb before you were born?”
Maria chuckled to herself. On this journey, her true nature often showed through.
“What about you, Maria? You kept up that saintly facade for so long in the kingdom, but now you’re quite relaxed, aren’t you? Ares might start disliking you,”
Solon retorted with a scowl.
“In the kingdom, I was merely playing the saint that the people around me desired. Ares doesn’t wish for such false behavior from me. He wants me to be my true self. Isn’t that right, Ares?”
Maria turned to me with a sweet voice. She was beautiful, but that face was tied to those harsh trials, so a chill reflexively ran down my spine.
“…Of course, Maria. Your true self is beautiful,”
I answered after a moment’s pause. It wasn’t a lie.
Come to think of it, when Maria was the saint that people wanted her to be, she seemed kind but felt like she expected nothing from anyone. Perhaps she’s following us on this journey because she can act like this now. So being able to see Maria’s true face is very fortunate, and her lively expressions are undeniably beautiful. Though she’s quite spiteful.
“As expected, Ares understands,”
Maria said, placing one hand against her blushing cheek. She looked like a perfect painting.
“Are you serious, Ares? Could it be that you suffered serious mental trauma from Maria’s trials during your academy days? Or maybe you were brainwashed without knowing it?”
Leon looked at me with a worried expression.
In response, Maria glared at Leon with eyes cold enough to freeze the campfire.
Since we started this journey, it’s been like this constantly. At first I was nervous, but I’ve come to think “maybe this is fine as it is.” If we stayed serious and tense all the time, we might quickly become mentally exhausted.
Prince Carlos had said it too: “It’s not good to be overly anxious.” So I think I’ve been blessed with good companions. While thinking such things, I gazed absentmindedly at my companions.
It wasn’t a bad night. I wished we could stay like this for a while.
But then Solon’s expression changed completely.
“…I have bad news. Someone with that paint we applied is approaching here.”
“Someone?”
With this sudden development, I didn’t understand what was happening.
“Could it be that Felip, who should have been buried alive underground, managed to escape from there? That’s something I don’t want to deal with,”
Leon tensed his expression, perhaps imagining an immortal monster.
“That possibility isn’t out of the question, but…”
Solon put his finger to his lips as he spoke. A signal to be quiet.
Tension ran across Maria’s and Leon’s faces.
A little later, I noticed the abnormality too. At some point, all sounds had disappeared.
No chirping of insects, no distant howling of beasts, no rustling of grass.
“We’re surrounded again. It’s the second time, but there seem to be more of them than last time,”
Leon drew his sword closer.
“These aren’t ordinary monsters. They’ve neatly blocked our escape routes,”
Solon also gripped his staff tightly.
“We’re still far from Highland. In that case, it must be the Demon King’s army that was attacking Ludonia,”
Maria’s voice held no emotion.
“Why would Ludonia’s Demon King army be in a place like this…”
After saying that, I realized.
“Is this the work of the person who was following us?”
“Most likely. It seems our foresight was inadequate,”
Solon wore a bitter expression.
“We also told the prince we were heading to Highland. Elliott was there too, so it’s possible the information was passed to someone else from there.”
“This will only fuel Solon’s distrust of humans even more,”
Maria smiled thinly.
“Solon’s planning is sloppy. But reflection comes later. What do we do?”
Leon looked around at our surroundings.
“In that case—”
Just as Solon was about to speak, I interrupted.
“Let’s leave our luggage behind and break through one point of the encirclement with full force. If we survive, we can recover our belongings later.”
I looked around at everyone and finally met Solon’s eyes.
“How about it?”
“Not bad,”
Solon shrugged lightly. Leon raised one hand in agreement, and Maria was smiling.
“Let’s go then.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
When I called out, my companions began moving swiftly.
We ran through the night forest with Leon in the lead. Solon and Maria followed, and I brought up the rear.
“Solon, fire magic in the opposite direction. I want them to think we’re fighting over there. It doesn’t matter if you don’t hit any monsters.”
“Don’t underestimate me, Ares. I’ll definitely hit them,”
Solon grinned fearlessly at my instruction and began chanting a spell.
Casting while running is difficult because it disrupts your breathing, but Solon magnificently completed his magic and caused a large explosion on the opposite side of the carriage. At the same time, we could hear the monsters’ screams.
“Did you see that?”
Solon looked proud.
“As expected, Solon. But big magic is fine now. Please focus on using simple magic quickly. If your magic stops, we’re finished.”
Solon nodded at my words.
“It’s starting here too.”
Leon, who was ahead, readied his sword while running. The treasured great sword passed down through the Mueller family. It emitted a faint bluish-white magical light.
“Leon, there are many enemies. To conserve stamina, focus on minimal movements. You don’t need to use the Sword Saint’s techniques. You’re strong enough as you are.”
As if responding to my voice, Leon’s sword light flickered.
He had cut down a monster. However, his running speed didn’t change at all, and we didn’t hear any screams from the monsters. A single stroke that didn’t even let them realize they’d been cut—no, that they’d died. I said minimal movements, but Leon doing this so easily is amazing.
At our feet, the corpses of goblins, ogres, and other creatures began to come into view.
Maria didn’t make a single sound and continued running, stepping over those corpses without concern. She seemed used to it, which was frightening. Solon made an “ugh” sound, disgusted.
Leon continued wielding his sword without slowing down. The monsters died helplessly. The enemy finally noticed, and a rallying cry went up.
Monsters began pursuing us from behind, chasing after us as we fled.
Dealing with that was my role.
I wouldn’t face them head-on. First, keep running. Then the faster monsters would separate from the group, and I’d deal with them one by one. I didn’t need to finish them in one strike like Leon. I just needed to prevent them from chasing us.
I concentrated on targeting their legs. Legs are vulnerable and easy to target.
I hid behind trees for surprise attacks and used fire spells to ignite fallen leaves to block their path. It wasn’t a cool way to fight, and there were some dangerous moments, but at those times Solon would fire magic to support me. When I got injured or tired, Maria would immediately heal me.
Fighting like this for a while, the distance between us and the monsters began to widen.
The distance between Leon’s group and me had also grown, but I could still catch up if I ran a little.
Both Leon and Solon were fighting without waste or openings, just as I had told them.
—This should be fine—
Just as I was beginning to feel relieved, a horse blocked the path between me and Leon’s group.
The mounted figure was clad in silver armor and wielding a spear. Beautiful silver hair and blue eyes.
“So you were the traitor, Elliott!”
Even at my accusation, Elliott showed no wavering, maintaining his usual cold expression.
I couldn’t sense the kind of anguished suffering that came from inner conflict, like with Felip and the others.
“Ares, you will die here.”
Elliott thrust his spear from horseback without any hesitation.
A sharp, fast thrust. I barely managed to deflect it with my shield.
“Ares!”
I could hear Leon’s group calling from behind Elliott. They seemed to be under heavy attack by monsters too. Of course, it couldn’t be a coincidence. Elliott must have brought them.
“Commanding the monsters? Did you defect to the Demon King’s army?!”
“It’s merely temporary cooperation. Making Prince Carlos the hero is for humanity’s sake. Someone like you could never succeed as a hero. Humans don’t have much time left to resist the Demon King’s army. The more people expect from you, the more irreparable their despair will be when you fail. If you insist on calling yourself a hero, then overcome this level of adversity.”
Elliott and his horse moved as one as he thrust his spear.
I rolled to dodge it, and as I got up, I slashed at the horse’s leg. With a high-pitched cry, the horse fell on its side, but Elliott quickly jumped down and landed gracefully.
“As always, a dirty way of fighting,”
Elliott said in a flat tone, showing contempt while thrusting his spear with perfect precision.
Spears have longer reach than swords, so fighting straightforwardly would be disadvantageous.
“…………”
I chanted a spell quietly, containing it in my mouth so the opponent couldn’t hear. The magic itself didn’t become stronger, but I had worked with Solon to improve how I used it. Under my leather gloves, I wore a magic ring that served as a substitute for a magic staff.
The moment Elliott pulled back his spear, I aimed and released the completed fire magic.
“I know about that.”
Elliott calmly retreated and maintained distance, perhaps having seen my fighting style on battlefields.
But his vision was blocked for just an instant.
I struck with all my strength at the middle of the spear that he held diagonally to defend against the attack.
With a dull impact, Elliott’s spear was split in two.
“Truly dirty. Targeting an opponent’s weapon…”
While saying this, Elliott threw the spear’s remains at me and used that opening to draw his sword from his waist.
“Did you perhaps think you could beat me in swordsmanship?”
The silver-haired knight closed the distance in an instant and swung his sword like lightning.
I somehow managed to block it with my shield, but it was such a powerful strike that my arm went numb.
“If you thought that, then I’ve been underestimated. This is a sword forged by serving as Prince Carlos-sama’s sparring partner since childhood and honed on battlefields. It’s different from what you practiced leisurely at the academy.”
Elliott stated coldly and slowly readied his sword.
TLNOTE:
Because of that volume 1 and 2 fan translation in this site will be removed in the near future
otherwise check the internet archive
As usual, please consider reading other novels written by Daken sensei listed below :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- The Castle of Canaan ~ The Lost Kingdom’s Princess, the World’s Hidden Treasure, and the Grand Adventure of the Mightiest Band of Thieves Versus an Empire ~
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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