Chapter 13
Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: A Promising Hero is Strange from the Start (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Viridis slammed into the village gate with its horns, gouging the ground with the tips. The earth shook like there was an earthquake, and the impact flipped the carriage we had arrived in. The horses foamed at the mouth and reared up on their front legs.
While the coachman hurried to secure the horses and flee, I grabbed Dandel and ducked behind the carriage. Dandel trembled violently, clinging to my back and sniffling.
“Lord Duke! Are we going to die here!? A monster! There’s still so much I haven’t done yet…….”
“Shut your mouth. I need to think.”
I clamped Dandel’s mouth shut and observed Viridis. Blood vessels were visible behind its round eyes. Sand whipped up in front of its nostrils as it snorted roughly.
“It’s scenting…….”
“Scent? What scent do you mean? If it’s the smell of death, then yeah, it’s definitely…….”
“I mean the scent of its target. And I told you to shut up.”
What it was sniffing for wasn’t the smell of death. It was hunting the scent of its prey.
Viridis was one of the largest monsters around. That bulk narrowed its field of vision. Its massive eyes were primitively nearsighted, ill-suited for spotting targets smaller than itself. So it relied on its nostrils instead of those big, bulging eyes.
I had to find its target. If I located the target and fled in the opposite direction, we’d be safe.
As I scanned the surroundings, Viridis raised its shoulders. With a heavy yet agile motion, its horns swung toward the inside of the village.
The target was still inside the village.
And that target was most likely Pippin.
Otherwise, why would that desperate voice calling for Pippin have echoed from deep within the village earlier?
“Luring the beast from inside the village to the outside, huh. How righteous. Must be because he’s the hero.”
And yet in the future, he’d fawn over the crown prince and kick Dahlia to the curb? Hmph. I snorted and turned to Dandel.
“Dandel! From behind me, head left along the mountain path and run into the village.”
“You want me to go past that monster?”
“The monster will head out along the road we came from. So listen to me. Secure a lodging inside ahead of time or whatever.”
I grabbed Dandel by the scruff of his neck and hurled him far away. Dandel yelped in panic, trying to call out to me, but when Viridis twitched its ears, he clamped both hands over his mouth. Then, hunching over, he whimpered in a whisper.
“Let’s go together…….”
“Go first. I have to wait for something.”
This was the perfect opportunity to push Pippin into mortal danger without lifting a finger.
The greenhorn hero Pippin, recklessly facing the monster and losing his life in an “accident.” A flawless scenario.
Getting Viridis to attack Pippin would be simple. Use Fireworks to fix its attention on him.
That dumb beast would probably charge straight at the noise. No way a potato-farming kid from a beginner village could survive Viridis’s assault.
“Sorry, but accept your fate.”
Talk about good luck right after arriving in the village.
“Dandel.”
“Y-Yes…….”
“After you flee into the village, you have a job. There’ll be a black-haired boy near Viridis. Throw a rock at him.”
“Huh? A black-haired boy? You want me to throw a rock at a person, not the bison?”
“Yeah, a person. Black hair, a bit younger than me. Throw the rock at him to draw the monster’s attention there.”
So I could pinpoint Pippin’s location at the same time.
But I couldn’t overlook Dandel’s cowardice.
“Lord Duke! How could I do something like that!?”
I seized Dandel’s collar and whispered in his ear.
“Don’t you want to live? If you don’t, that bison Viridis will charge into the village and kill a ton of people. That’s the only way to lure the monster outside.”
“That’s……!”
“It’s not cowardly. You’re just diverting the monster’s gaze far away. To save people.”
“But what about that boy! He’ll be in danger if the monster focuses on him!”
“It’s fine. He’s strong enough to beat a bison. I know the guy. It’s all part of my plan, so just trust me and do it.”
[Sierra’s Penetration Trait Activated]
“Lord Duke…….”
[♥♥♥♥]
For some reason, Dandel’s affection rose. How’s a guy this naive supposed to survive this harsh world?
Dandel nodded solemnly and scrambled over the dense brush on the hill like a monkey.
I climbed up after him first, hiding in the bushes, planning to attack once I spotted Pippin.
Kuuuwoooo.
Viridis scraped its horns along the ground, kicking up sand. Visibility dropped. The murmurs from inside the village fell silent with a single stomp from Viridis.
How long did I wait?
Viridis, which had only been snorting, suddenly lifted its horns and turned its head. Something had instantly captured its attention.
“It’s Dandel!”
Just as I moved to find Pippin,
[[Sweet Horde]’s Message: Hungry.]
An incomprehensible status window halted my steps.
“Sweet Horde? A skill? First time seeing it.”
I quickly checked my status screen. Sure enough, “Sweet Horde” had appeared out of nowhere in my familiar list. And Sugar Princess had become Sugar Lord.
“What the hell?”
[Hungry]
[Hungry]
[Hungry]
[Hungry]
[Hungry]
The status windows kept popping up like mad, filling my vision until I couldn’t see.
“What!? What is this!?”
No time for other skills. The screens were blocking my sight completely.
Plan change! Sweet Horde was my familiar anyway, right? Summon it first to clear the screens.
“Gate of Death!”
I opened a Gate of Death toward Viridis. The manhole-cover monster slowly revealed its face.
“…How do I summon? Uh, um, summon? Summon! Summon Sweet Horde! Summon it already!”
At my words, the manhole-cover monster smiled, its many eyes gleaming. Its massive maw yawned open, releasing a sickly sweet stench as a ‘shhhh shhhh shhhh’ sound began. Like dry grains rattling together?
I activated the Black Eyes skill and peered into the Gate of Death. I had no expectations, but what poured out was beyond imagination.
“What is this……? Wait, ack! Ugh!”
I stumbled back. Every time Viridis thrashed in the distance, something black sloshed and spilled onto the ground. Ants. Precisely, a swarm of ant spirits.
“Isn’t this a romance game? Why’s it suddenly Fabre’s Insects horror edition!?”
Dodging the ants, I wrapped my arms around a tree trunk.
No way—the one I caught yesterday was the queen ant? Can a normal queen produce an army this size overnight? What a vigorous queen!
The endless ant swarm pooled like water, milling about in confusion. Get it together.
This ant horde was Sugar Princess’s legion—and my familiar. Actually, perfect.
Use the [Gluttony Designate] skill.
Viridis had lumbered out of the village, stomping away. A shadow dodged its horns, weaving left and right ahead of it. That must be Pippin.
I pointed at Pippin.
“Go, Sweet Horde! Bind Hero Pippin’s feet! Let Viridis finish him off.”
The ant swarm astoundingly understood my command and surged toward Viridis and Pippin en masse. A wondrous and gruesome sight. Black ants obeying my words.
Dahlia might like this. Like a circus with lizard food.
Seeing the black mass charge at Pippin, I sighed in relief and slumped down.
But then, a sinister giggle echoed: kehehehehe. I turned to see the Gate of Death’s gaping maw rolling its red eyes at me.
[Foolish…….]
“A manhole cover that talks?”
[Familiar… human… kill… not afraid…….]
“…….”
I frowned at the ants swarming Pippin.
“What, you’re asking if I have no qualms killing Pippin? You manhole lid.”
[…….]
“…From wage-docking bosses to doctors who botched my sister’s organs, I’ve got a list of people I want gone. What did I get for playing nice? My sister’s death and electrocution, that’s it.”
I had no more room to play the good guy. Muttering inwardly, I refocused on the situation.
This was a world of monsters and spirits. People died here for all sorts of bizarre reasons.
Hypocritical virtue couldn’t protect me or my sister.
“But something’s off…….”
I’d told them to grab Pippin, but the ants were clinging to Viridis. They’d massed blackly at its feet. Too far to see details.
And something else was next to Pippin.
Human-shaped, but that aura was definitely a spirit……
[Kehe… foolish… horde… lord’s slave…….]
Ah, crap. My mistake?
The Gate of Death gaped wide, mocking me.
[…You should have commanded the lord, not the horde.]
The creepy manhole lid only spoke clearly when mocking men.
“What!? What happened!?”
I yelled at the manhole lid. It cackled, flattened, and slithered away.
“Damn it!”
I slid down the hill toward Pippin. Better to take him out amid the chaos. Miss this chance with Viridis as cover, and who knows when I’d get another.
Blast fireworks in his face then smash him, or shove him under Viridis’s feet.
As Pippin came into clear view, Viridis suddenly staggered and bellowed. The ground rumbled—kuuguugu—and it collapsed.
The Sweet Horde? The ants had severely damaged its legs. The fluid pooling on the ground was probably Viridis’s.
Finish Pippin before Viridis died!
“Fireworks—”
Mid-incantation motion for the spell, something whistled past me. A sharply honed silver blade. If I hadn’t instinctively jerked my head back, I’d be dead.
The silver blade whirled back and embedded in Viridis’s forehead. Wind gushed from its pierced nostril, then stilled.
“—i! Fireworks!”
Too late, I triggered the explosion in front of me. Black mist shrouded my view. Could use this as a flashy smoke bomb sometime.
Meaning Pippin was out of sight. He’d vanished in that split second before the skill activated.
“What was that just now.”
Feeling the ache in my ankle, I slowly backed away. The moment I cautiously planted my foot, alert to all sides—a pale forearm burst through the black mist, seizing my collar.
“Give… me your leg…….”