#074 Giant
#074 Giant
While we moved to resolve the village's problem, we had no choice but to keep running into Black Lotus.
"Sir Rapid, we'll be working on this village's request together as well, yes?"
"Yes. Of course. With the help of the Witch and the others, we'll surely be able to resolve it easily."
Black Lotus said nothing and left everything to Sir Rapid.
"I am Sir Black Lotus's attendant knight. If you have anything to say to her, please speak through me."
Since he had appointed himself the channel for communicating with Black Lotus, I had no choice but to work out a concrete subjugation plan with Sir Rapid for this matter.
I had sensed it, and so had he.
That we were the working-level staff.
We discussed in concrete terms how to establish a subjugation plan and prepare for danger, work that figureheads or those with outstanding individual ability could not do.
"Preparing for every situation is the basics when dealing with the remnants of the Demon King Army. Sir Rapid, arrange regular contact with Odron every three hours. We don't know when the enemy might attack."
"Understood. I will ask them to provide support so that people can come up from the city immediately if danger arises. As for the Witch...."
"I'll set traps around the village. Since most of the enemies are probably insects, I'll use something that can repel insects."
"Indeed. It's truly comfortable preparing with you, Witch."
"Likewise."
Do I really have to do this kind of work at my level of experience?
But since there's no one else who can do this work besides me, I have to do it myself.
I could feel that Rapid and I were thinking the same thing.
Of course, he was working-level staff while I was a higher-up who nevertheless ran on the front lines of practical work, but without us, building a system to protect this village was effectively impossible.
"Then I shall prepare accordingly. Is there anything you're curious about...?"
"Sir Black Lotus."
"...Yes. Please speak."
Whatever else Sir Rapid might be, he reacted quite sensitively when it came to her.
"Is Sir Black Lotus someone connected to the County of Odron?"
"Haha, well. If she has a connection, she does. Her hometown is the county, after all."
Speaking around the truth by mixing in half-facts.
It all shows.
"By hometown, do you mean someone born in the count's castle itself, perhaps?"
"......."
See.
Poke just a little at a sensitive spot, and her expression stiffens in an instant.
"You don't need to shoot me a look asking how I noticed. It's because of you."
"Pardon?"
"There's no way that a person whom an excellent knight like Sir Rapid would volunteer to protect as an attendant knight could be an ordinary knight. Setting aside skill, it's only right to assume she possesses something beyond skill. Isn't that so?"
"...Truly, I cannot get the better of you, Witch."
Rapid shook his head with a sigh.
"Please pretend not to know. There's nothing good about it becoming known."
"Understood. And one more thing: if you intend to hide her identity completely, you'd do well to change the saddle on her horse too."
"......Ah."
"Hehe. Then please focus on coordinating with Odron, Sir Knight."
Rapid gaped in surprise, and I pointed outside to him before heading out to do my own work.
"Master."
"Lucius? Were you waiting for me?"
"Yes. Well...."
Lucius, who had been outside the hut, stood awkwardly, scratching his head.
"...I was waiting because I was curious how it went. I couldn't go in because I was afraid of disturbing you while you were working."
"It's you, so what's the big deal? So, why were you waiting for me?"
"...Isn't it possible to wait without any particular reason?"
"What are you talking about?"
I lightly swatted Lucius's leg.
"In this world, the only things without reason are liking and disliking a person. Perfect timing. I'm going around setting traps from now on, so watch closely."
"Traps?"
"Yes. I'm going to make traps with magic. Stationary magic circles for dealing with a large-scale legion."
"Do you mean the magic circle you used to roast the Sandworms in Normance?"
"Yes. But this time it's a little different."
I lightly stamped the ground with my foot.
"Last time, the Sandworms burst out of the ground, right? I had two options then. One was to scatter Magic Circles across a lot of possible locations and hope something triggered them. The other was to assume the enemy knew Normance's layout and place them where they could emerge easily and spread the crows inside—main roads and plazas."
"In the end, the latter was correct."
"Right. The bastards moved as expected, and thanks to that, I was able to absorb a large amount of mana. Well... even if it had been the former, I had countermeasures for everything."
I kept every possible outcome in mind.
However, as the saying goes that overthinking leads to a blunder, it's not good to think for too long.
"This time, the most dangerous enemy is insects. Venomous insects. We can't conscript the villagers to build facilities. So I'm going to set up magic circles for dealing with venomous insects."
"What kind of magic circles?"
"There are several kinds. There's a method of spreading a net of flames, and there's also a method of spreading a barrier so they can't even approach. Ah, just because I'm good with fire doesn't mean I can't handle other things."
Whish.
A cool breeze grazed Lucius's forehead.
Lucius fiddled with his bangs with a somewhat surprised face.
"This is...?"
"Wind magic. I like fire magic because it's flashy and hot, but wind is the attribute I can control most delicately."
"Delicately...."
"You know the technique I used on top of the wall last time? All of that is an application of fire and wind."
I lit a small ember, then used wind magic to draw a shape with the flame.
"Is this... me?"
"Yes. How is it? Quite delicate, isn't it?"
"...It looks like me."
Lucius gulped at the face made of flame that resembled his own.
"Can you make other things besides this?"
"Of course. With enough time and mana, I can make any number of things like this. No, I could even make them bigger."
"Bigger?"
"Yes. With enough mana, I could even create a giant that could kick around the city walls. You might get to see it someday. Probably."
I'm certain of it.
Now that all seven Holy Swords have awakened, it would be nice if we only had to deal with the Demon King Army, but I have a feeling that Acedia isn't the only thing we'll have to face.
Those who desire strong power are countless, and especially the Wind Holy Sword carries enormous symbolic weight for having struck down the Great Demon King Belphegor.
"You'll be able to handle anything delicately once you learn later. The most difficult thing in the world is mana, you know? If you can handle mana properly, you'll be able to handle everything in this world easily. I'm sure of it."
"Handle easily, you say—do you mean absolutely anything?"
"That's right."
"Then... I'll try learning it."
"Oh."
It was unexpected to see Lucius show so much interest in magic.
'As expected, all men like giants.'
A colossal existence.
A moving wall.
And beyond such things, that thing which every man goes crazy and loses his mind over.
"For now, learning will have to wait. You'll definitely need to learn delicate mana control, but we have other things to do right now."
"Ah, yes. I'm sorry."
"No need to be sorry. It was nice; it reminded me of the old days for the first time in a while."
"The old days?"
"Yes. It's not difficult to talk while doing this anyway, so I can lay the insect nets while we chat."
The net of flame that captures the enemy's venomous insects would mercilessly capture and kill every insect that entered.
Since installation wasn't difficult, I could just chat casually while setting it up.
I wasn't the sort to make mistakes just because I was talking, and since the subject of giants had come up, I needed to tell Lucius about 'that' too.
"A long time ago, I once rode an enormous giant."
"What?"
"Not one made of magic like this. There was an ancient weapon like that—a giant of overwhelming power that drew on a near-infinite source of mana."
It was truly strong.
"It was enormous—about the size of the Great Demon King Belphegor's Black Dragon body."
Wow, it was truly difficult.
When I fought a Hero who wielded a giant golem as strong and massive as myself, exchanging cross-counters with my Black Dragon body in a physical brawl, I truly thought I was going to die.
That was when I learned.
That the world contained things far more incredible than I had imagined.
That became the impetus for me to devote even more effort to researching the Holy Swords, and based on that, I came to understand the true nature of the Holy Swords in a bit more detail.
About the source of the immense mana the Holy Swords possessed.
And about the world's 'secret'—that it was difficult to simply call the Holy Swords Holy Swords.
"Lucius. You might really fall for it at first sight later and lose your mind."
The Holy Sword's final release.
"I'll definitely make sure you get to ride it properly one day."
If you see the Holy Sword's 'true form,' you'll probably be astonished.
"Until then, I'm counting on you?"
"...Yes, I'm counting on you too, Master."
* * *
"...That wretched thing."
Inside the inn.
Black Lotus, who had removed her helmet—Droniel Odron—ground her teeth as she watched Lucius and the red witch chatting and laughing together, just the two of them.
"Daring to take my Lucius...."
"Hey, young lady."
"What?!"
"Why don't you just take off your helmet and reveal your identity?"
Sir Rapid pounded his chest in frustration.
"Why can't you just come out and say, 'I'm Droniel, I'm your childhood friend of ten years'?"
"How could I say that!"
Droniel shrieked and raged.
"If we're childhood friends of ten years, shouldn't he recognize me just by hearing my voice?!"
"...Well, it might be a little disappointing that he doesn't recognize that, but...."
"So what?"
"Watching this is driving me crazy with frustration."
"......."
Droniel fiddled with her helmet and bit her lip.
"But...."
"But?"
"I want Lucius to recognize me right away...."
"......."
Rapid could no longer say anything.
He figured that saying anything more would only frustrate him further.
"Young lady...."
Breeeeeee—
An alarm rang throughout the village.
"Wh-what is that...?!"
Outside the window.
Countless dark shapes covered the sky.
That was.
"Narag Venomous Insects?!"
They were the very venomous insects said to kill with a single bite.
A truly enormous legion, covering the clear sky with darkness, was approaching the village.