Bonds of the Journey (1)
Bonds of the Journey (1)
We were attacked by monsters on the outer edge of the forest, which marked the border with the neighboring territory.
"Damn it, it's a mid-grade monster!"
"Ugh! Heading your way!"
"Fall back! The knights will handle them!"
"Don't get cocky when you can't even use mana!"
As the soldiers blocked the monsters' attacks with their shields, the knights shouted and rushed forward.
Bang! Bang!
Then came the sounds of smashing and explosions.
Simon and I hurriedly climbed out of the carriage. Our eyes widened at the sight before us.
"Is this the first time either of you has seen something like that?"
The chief butler, who had followed us out, asked.
"Is that a monster?"
Simon frowned as he watched the creatures fight the knights.
I couldn't help grimacing, either.
'A wild dog... no, is it a wolf?'
They were the size of compact cars, so it was hard to call them wild dogs, let alone wolves, but they bore a strong resemblance to wolves.
If they were intact, I might have thought they were simply enormous wolves.
But the two beasts fighting the knights certainly deserved to be called monsters.
Their skin had been half peeled away. Dark red blood caked the muscles exposed beneath it like muddy tar.
In places like the head and chest, even the muscles had been gouged away, exposing the bone.
They looked incredibly similar to the zombie dogs I used to see in video games, though several times larger.
'How are they alive... no, how are they even moving?'
Some parts of them were moving with nothing but bones holding them together, completely devoid of muscle.
They looked as though even crawling would be a struggle, yet the monsters thrashed wildly against the knights.
"It's an Undead Wolf! Form the beast-type undead counter-formation!"
Knight Hugo shouted to the other knights, and they quickly shifted positions, keeping the monsters at bay.
A moment later, the monsters known as Undead Wolves were trapped within the circular formation the knights had established.
Was that really an undead monster? The books explaining monsters weren't picture books, so I hadn't imagined they'd look like this at all.
I had expected some scary-looking mutant with a bit of pus.
But a giant zombie dog? This was a bona fide fantasy monster.
At this rate, Skeletons might actually be monsters with nothing but bare bones left!
As I imagined an army of skeletons holding swords and spewing black smoke from their mouths, Brother Simon stepped forward.
He already had a sword in his hand.
"Will you be participating?"
At the Knight Commander's question, Brother Simon nodded. The commander had been watching from behind.
"It's a chance to face a monster. I can't miss it."
After pondering for a moment, the Knight Commander nodded.
"Understood. Please be careful, nonetheless."
The Knight Commander shouted toward the front.
"Young Lord Simon will take the one on the left! Readjust the formation!"
"Understood."
At the Knight Commander's command, Knight Hugo answered on behalf of the others.
At Knight Hugo's direction, the formation began to shift.
The monsters continued to thrash wildly, but the distance between them gradually widened until they were trapped in separate blockades.
Five knights surrounded each monster, and Simon stepped into the blockade on the left.
"Will he be alright?"
Standing beside the Knight Commander, I asked him.
Although the knights were fighting well within their blockade, they weren't inflicting any serious wounds on the beast.
The knights' swords sliced through the monsters' skin and wounded their muscles, but no more of their already coagulated blood spilled out, and the beasts' movements remained unchanged.
These were knights who could fell a thick tree with a single strike, yet they couldn't seem to sever the rotten-looking muscle and bone.
'Ah, come to think of it, when the soldiers thrust their spears, did they fail to leave even a scratch?'
Brother Simon was about to face a monster like that. Even with the other knights helping him, it would be extremely dangerous...
The Knight Commander answered my question.
"Should we call it good luck? It's rare to encounter a mid-grade monster, but he'll be fine. Did you perhaps not hear about this from Miguel?"
"Hear what?"
"Tsk."
The Knight Commander clicked his tongue quietly. It seemed Miguel had left something out.
My condolences to Miguel, who would surely get scolded later...
"Well, see for yourself now. Why nobles rule the world."
Was it just my imagination, or could I sense anger and sorrow beneath his blunt tone?
I checked the Knight Commander's expression, but couldn't read anything from his face.
Simon stood before the half-rotted giant wolf and raised his sword.
The monster, which had been clashing with the other knights, turned its gaze toward Simon.
Roar!
As if it were alive, the wolf opened its skeletal jaws and roared.
Immediately afterward, it lunged at Simon.
Flare.
At that moment, Simon's sword glowed with a faint sky-blue light. He had coated it in mana.
But the knights had also fought with their swords coated in mana.
Thanks to the mana coating, they had inflicted more wounds than the soldiers, but they still hadn't managed to deliver a fatal blow...
Simon showed no fear whatsoever.
His face radiated confidence, completely unlike the expression I'd seen before he died.
Neither the Knight Commander nor the other knights seemed worried.
The wolf lunged at Simon with its jaws wide open, and Simon swung his sword at the Undead Wolf.
Danger!
Simon was completely engulfed by the compact-car-sized wolf. His head was buried beneath the wolf's, entirely out of sight.
Slash!
But in the next instant, the wolf's head tilted and tumbled to the side.
Its body remained upright, but its head had been severed. Rotten blood writhed up from the severed neck, only to solidify instantly.
Thud!
Then the Undead Wolf's headless body collapsed in the opposite direction.
My goodness. That was a completely unexpected outcome.
Was he really that strong? It was clearly an ordinary sword. At that level, he could probably defeat several knights with ease.
Yet neither the Simon I'd seen in my past life nor the Simon who had just felled the monster seemed that strong.
I couldn't understand it at all. I had no choice but to ask the Knight Commander.
Unlike before, the Knight Commander explained in detail.
"The inherited abilities possessed by nobles come from the Heroes who defeated the Demon King during the Great War. Though their bloodlines have thinned over time, weakening those abilities and leaving them with only a fraction of that power, it remains fatal to the demons and monsters led by the Demon King."
I had thought of Heroes as people like superheroes, with all sorts of superpowers...
Were Heroes actually weapons designed specifically to fight the Demon King and demons?
"Even now, with the Demon King and demons gone, it's highly effective against the monsters that remain. Even someone like me, who inherited only a rat's tail of that blood, managed to become a Knight Commander because of it."
A hint of self-deprecation crept into his blunt words.
"Both the Duke and Young Lord Simon possess the Mana Cultivation Technique of the Carlos Hero, the founder of our kingdom. It's an excellent method when facing humans, but against monsters, it displays several times its usual power."
Was that why Simon could send its head flying with a single blow?
Simon was still standing before the monster. He seemed to be basking in the thrill of his first hunt.
Standing before the fallen monster with his glowing sword raised, Simon looked quite dashing.
Unfortunately, there were no young girls around to cheer for him.
While Simon was striking a pose, the other monster was being dealt with, too.
As I watched the other fight, the Knight Commander asked,
"Would you like to try fighting as well, Alex?"
Looking at the monster, which had already lost one of its legs, I shook my head.
"I can't even control mana properly yet. Besides, it looks like they'll wrap it up soon anyway."
When I said that, the Knight Commander nodded with a satisfied expression.
As expected, it was a trap.
It was a question designed to test whether I knew my place and remembered his warning to keep my abilities hidden from Simon.
To be honest, I was curious to see if my mana would work, but there was no need to interfere here for no reason.
Bang!
It was then that something came flying out of the forest.
A half-decayed wolf. Another Undead Wolf.
The wolf was flying straight toward Simon, who was standing there in a daze.
An undead being, launched like a cannonball.
It was absurd, but I hurriedly threw my sword.
Whirr!
Because I threw it with a spin, the sword didn't pierce the undead. Instead, its flat side struck the creature's body.
Clang!
Perhaps because I'd infused it with mana just in time, the undead was knocked slightly off course when the flat of the blade struck it.
That would've been impossible in my past life, but with mana, it was entirely feasible. Long live mana.
"Gasp!"
Simon was terrified as the undead brushed past him.
His cool demeanor crumbled in an instant. It was truly a blessing that there were no young girls around.
Thud.
The Knight Commander rushed forward before anyone else noticed and swung his sword at the wolf rolling on the ground.
Crunch!
With the sound of something being thoroughly crushed, the wolf's head shattered.
"Whoa!"
My jaw dropped in surprise.
Wait, hadn't he said his ability was only a rat's tail?
Simon's eyes were wide, too. He seemed just as shocked.
If that was a rat's tail, did that mean Simon was actually incredibly weak?
While I was harboring those doubts, the Knight Commander was tilting his head in confusion as well.
He examined the monster with its shattered head and frowned.
"It was already dead..."
What did he mean by that? If it was undead, of course it was already dead.
He must have noticed my expression. He explained again.
"My sword can't shatter it like this. This monster was already broken before it came flying over here."
When he said that, I looked in the direction the undead had flown from.
A sturdy young man stood among the trees. He had a neat, handsome face that didn't quite match his bulky build.
He wore leather armor and held a large greatsword in one hand.
Was he a mercenary?
He scratched his head with an apologetic look.
"My apologies. I didn't expect it to fly all the way over there."
The Knight Commander strode forward and stood in front of me.
"Are you a noble?"
That was the first thing the Knight Commander asked.
This was a man who had killed and sent flying a mid-grade monster that a single knight would struggle to handle. Or had the monster flown off while he was in the middle of killing it?
At any rate, there was no way someone of that caliber was an ordinary mercenary.
"I am a noble, but... I was kicked out of my family. I have neither land nor a house, so you can just consider me a commoner."
What did that mean? A noble was a noble; how could being kicked out of his family make him a commoner?
I couldn't understand what he meant, but the Knight Commander did.
The Knight Commander looked at me, then turned his gaze back to the man.
"Are you... perhaps a bastard son?"
"Yes! Thanks to that, I'm no different from a commoner."
Ah, so that was why.
A bastard son. To think I would meet someone in the same position as me.
"Hmph!"
While we were talking, Simon, seemingly furious at having been startled, stomped back into the carriage.
Since he'd already received an apology, it was difficult for someone with his personality to throw a tantrum.
"Oh, the young master seems quite angry. Should I apologize again?"
"It is fine."
The Knight Commander shook his head at the man's question.
"That's a relief. I was startled because I thought the young master was going to get crushed. You're really amazing for someone who looks so young."
He complimented me as he looked my way.
"Thanks to you, I was saved as well. I was so scared I was ready to turn tail and run."
If I hadn't been there, would Simon have been crushed by that dead monster while this man ran away as fast as he could?
I had felt this before, but it was incredibly interesting to see how situations changed because of me.
In the meantime, the other monster was taken care of, too.
After all four of its legs were severed, its head was hacked at and chopped repeatedly like firewood until it was completely cut off.
"By the way, where are you headed?"
I looked at the Knight Commander. Was it all right to say?
"We are going to the Hierro Marquisate."
It seemed there was no harm in sharing that. At the Commander's words, the man's face lit up.
His expression was incredibly bright, but a creeping sense of unease rose within me. What was this?
"Oh, in that case, may I accompany you?"
He continued in a truly delighted voice.
"Though I was kicked out, the Hierro Marquisate is also my home."