117 – Devil – 2
“My lord, is this really the right place?”
“We’re almost there. Just a little further.”
Serena came next to me, bouncing off all the sand grains flying at her with mana wrapped around her body.
Rather than doubting that this direction was right, I seemed more concerned with the grains of sand hitting my face while I was doing this.
He reached out his hand and tried to brush his face, so he shook his head to mean that it was okay. Even if I brushed it off, it would pile up again.
Serena and I were riding across a vast wasteland on horseback.
Here and there, I saw a rocky mountain with bizarre shapes carved out by the sandstorm over a long period of time, and trees that were on the verge of dying and crumbling infrequently.
It must have been mixed with the sand in the wind, and it tasted bitter along with the texture of the sand grains in the mouth.
Despite the harsh surroundings, the horses we rode moved forward without hesitation, befitting the guys who the owner of the rental shop boasted were good horses.
Serena, wearing a dark gray robe pulled all the way over her head, came next to me. The lower part of the face was also wrapped in cloth, and the whole body was tightly wrapped.
Slender, outstretched thighs and well-muscled forearms were all hidden under gray robes, and the only bare skin was the eyelids around the blue eyes.
In the hand covered with a leather glove, he held the World Eater in his real scabbard, not the scabbard cast from iron he had been wearing.
As the jewel glowed red, Serena frowned and injected mana into the World Eater. The light of the jewel faded as soon as the mana was injected.
“Are you still rebelling?”
Noticing that my gaze was on the World Eater in her hand, Serena raised her right hand slightly.
“It is, but not enough to worry about, my lord.”
Serena let go of the reins, grabbed the World Eater’s scabbard and handle with both hands, and pulled them in opposite directions.
Sreung, the sword was easily pulled out with a sound. The World Eater’s metal blade glistened even more brilliantly in the sunlight.
“Because it comes out intact like this.”
Serena proudly grabbed the World Eater and swung it lightly. The mana wrapped around the sword body was released in the form of a slash and swept across the wasteland in a straight line.
The sound of the ground being gnawed by the slash was heard, and deep cuts were left on the stone and sand floor. It was the height of three adult males stacked vertically.
The world eater was obediently following Serena’s words even after regaining its true form, as if the experience of being forced to physically purify was deeply embedded in its brain.
Seeing my satisfied nod, Serena put the knife in her hand back into the scabbard.
“Take good care of it. It should look as expensive as possible, but it should look like a family’s treasured or famous sword rather than a demonic sword. If it is recognized as a demonic sword, it will be difficult. .”
“I see, lord.”
“If you think something is coming, let me know right away. Now there’s a high chance that they’ll find us on the other side.”
“Anything approached, of any kind?”
“That’s right. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a human or a monster, just tell us if you want to approach us. If you don’t think it’s approaching us, leave it alone.”
“Now.”
“What?”
“There is something approaching us now, lord.”
I looked around at Serena’s words, but I couldn’t see a silhouette that was presumed to be a human or a monster.
“Which direction?”
“The direction is east-west, and the distance is about 3 kilometers away. I headed this way and slowed down behind a rocky mountain right in front of me. I noticed it a while ago, but my lord didn’t say anything else.”
Somehow, in this wasteland where the only obstacles were rocks and dust, I said I couldn’t see anyone approaching here, so he was hiding behind that rocky mountain waiting for us to pass.
He probably has a telescope, and the direction Serena and I are walking is also the side of the rocky mountain.
“It just went well. How many people are there?”
“There are sixteen in total.”
Being able to accurately guess who was coming from which direction and how many were coming without using magic was also a piece of Serena’s mana sensitivity ability.
Serena said it reads the changes in mana flowing in the air, but when she told Charlotte this, she created a new magic that reads the flow of mana on the spot.
Conversely, it also means that Serena can always activate abilities that can only be used by Charlotte using magic.
Christine’s ability, Mana Nullification, is a really determined and fraudulent ability, so Serena’s ability was also very useful.
“Remember the precautions I said?”
“That’s right.”
“Tell me one by one.”
“Be patient with whatever insults they inflict on your master and me. Do not swing your sword recklessly and only slightly reveal its appearance. Do not recklessly take off your robes until your lord gives you a signal. It’s four.”
“I remember it well. Do I have to protect it? In particular, I have to endure whatever insults I receive. I keep it unconditionally. If they run away, I will have to look elsewhere.”
“……Yes. I understand, lord.”
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Judging by the slower response than usual, it seemed very dissatisfied with the fact that I had to endure even if they mocked me.
But what can I do, in order to prepare a sacrifice, I have to first check what their minds are like.
While I slightly opened the pockets on the horse’s saddle to reveal the gold coins inside, and adjusted the clothes made of fine fabric, the horse we rode steadily walked to the rocky mountain.
“They’re moving increasingly frantic, lord. They’re about to ambush us.”
“Okay. Just keep going like this.”
True to Serena’s words, as we got closer to the rocky mountain, we heard a moving sound from above. It seemed that they had no intention of hiding their existence.
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Judging by their appearance, they’re the kind of guys I could reasonably shake off even if I fought alone without Serena, but I had to act like I was being robbed of money by those things.
‘If I can’t die this time, let’s see.’
I glared at World Eater.
The reason why he came all of a sudden to the wasteland and is cosplaying as a poor boy from a rich family is because of the devil that dwells inside him.
Later, if you make an excuse that the sacrifice was not enough, you will be thrown into purgatory and melted.
“There, stop!”
Pak, an arrow pierced right in front of me. With that as a signal, several more arrows flew. He stopped the horse by gently gripping the reins.
Serena held the unpicked World Eater in one hand and looked around, pretending to be wary. Several arrows were also stuck in front of Serena’s horse.
A group of men who looked terrifying just by looking at them came pouring out from nearby. I didn’t even have to count the numbers. As Serena said, there must be exactly 16 people.
I glared at the guys who started to surround us with an annoyed expression.
“What are you?”
“Us? We’re just very good adventurers. It looks like we’re scared, but we’re not that scared. Look, how nice and kind you look?”
“Ah, it seems that way.”
“Hey, I can speak well—”
“There’s a saying that the uglier the better. I don’t know if that’s true, or if it’s just a mental victory for guys like you, but if it’s true, you’re probably as good as a saintess of the Holy Church. Why don’t you try to be more confident?”
The smile on his face completely disappeared as I turned it around. A chuckle escaped from the encirclement of them surrounding us.
“This bastard!”
“Ah, it’s a joke, a joke. I threw a joke because he seemed like a nice and kind adventurer, but he didn’t accept it. So, what happened to our ‘kind and kind adventurers’ to come to this wasteland? Even shooting arrows.”
When I emphasized the word he said twice, the good and kind adventurer, his face turned red and the corners of his mouth twitched.
I was honestly surprised.
Is it because you have quite a bit of patience? I thought you couldn’t stand it here and attacked with curses. I felt like we should continue this conversation a little longer.
“……Yes, this nice and kind adventurer stopped to give some help there.”
“Help? I can go on my own without that. I got the wrong address.”
“No, they will definitely need our help.”
“wherefore?”
He spread his arms wide and made an exaggerated gesture.
“Yeah, because there’s a huge Giant Death Worm ahead! This wasteland is their territory. If you don’t want to be eaten along with the horse, you’ll have to stop here, right?”
It’s a giant death worm. Was there anything like that in this wasteland?
When I glanced at Serena, Serena shook her head slightly from side to side. I meant nothing like that.
In other words, the act of talking about that giant death worm is a complete bravado mixed with lies created just to scare us.
“That’s scary. So, what does that Giant Death Worm have to do with you stopping us?”
“It has a lot to do with it! I’m a very nice and kind adventurer. That’s what I mean. So, can’t you bear to watch a noble youngster like you unknowingly walk into that wasteland and feed him? Of course you stop. Stop and give a warning.”
“Warning? That’s good. Thanks for the advice. I heard you. Can I go now?”
“Uhh, no. No way. We saved your lives, but of course you have to pay for them, right? Surely you’re not such a worthless young boy, are you?”
And then he slightly raised his weapon. Other settlements that made up the siege followed suit.
“I don’t think we asked for information first.”
“Uh huh. This is a young boy who doesn’t know anything about the world. How will you get through this harsh world with that kind of mindset? Huh? It’s no use regretting it after being eaten by a giant death worm later. Did we prevent that in advance? In other words, , It’s the same as the Bocchan’s lifesaver!”
“Stop talking bullshit. Get out of the way.”
As soon as I tried to start the horse, showing off that it was annoying, an arrow flew right in front of the horse’s hoof.
It was a little closer than the first arrow shot.
