Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Chapter 18: Revival Route
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“Excellent.”
Davi, who had quietly come up beside me, nodded with an intrigued look on his face. I dismissed the wind barrier and chimed in.
“Pretty impressive, right? Once the attribute switched to wind, it just punched right through.”
“Magic effects vary by type, it seems. Don’t most spells handle four attributes?”
“Ice, wind, lightning, fire. But there’s no defensive magic for lightning. Fire has some, but it’s weak against physical projectiles flying in.”
“Then there’s no need to test those. What about holy magic?”
“Absolute Protection Magic... well, Protection Magic. It’s absolutely impenetrable. Even a direct hit wouldn’t stand a chance. Let’s test something else instead.”
Wooong!
I conjured a hexagonal shield of light in front of me. Davi squinted one eye slightly and said.
“Shield of Light. The holy magic Your Highness used against Phiren that night.”
“It blocks physical force and magic alike. Rinen! Throw another one!”
“Yes! Your Highness!”
At the same time, Davi kicked off the ground and dodged to the side. I adjusted the trajectory of Shield of Light toward the incoming spear blade.
Would the light fragments pierce the shield of light this time?
In the end, they didn’t.
But something even more terrifying unfolded. The moment the spear blade collided with the shield.
Flash!
Every fragment bounced off the shield, scattering sharp shards in all directions.
Ugh, so bright.
It was like a massive fireworks display exploding overhead.
The ricocheted fragments spread so widely that everywhere except behind the shield—where I stood—was completely covered.
Some even reached Kyle, who was over thirty meters away. Caught off guard, he collapsed on the spot and writhed around like he’d stepped on Lego bricks.
“Ugh, urk! Uuughrk! Uwaaak!”
“Your Highness! Are you all right!”
Rinen rushed toward me in a panic. I stuck out my tongue and nodded.
“I’m fine. But what the hell just happened?”
“Huh? Huh?”
“There were way more fragments pouring out, right? Were you going all out just now?”
“N-No, sir! They were all the same power!”
Rinen glanced up at the still-floating light shield and swallowed hard.
“That glowing shield... the moment it collided, it produced far more fragments than usual. What could have caused that?”
“Exactly.”
Davi, who had returned, nodded in agreement.
“To my eyes, it looked like twice—no, three times as many fragments scattering, and over a much wider area than before.”
“That’s what I saw too. Poor Kyle got hit for nothing.”
Kyle, who had been rolling on the ground for a moment, scrambled to his feet with a sullen expression.
But right then.
“......”
An illusion flashed before my eyes: a gate opening, otherworldly soldiers pouring out.
Hundreds, thousands of soldiers in thick armor, densely packed, endlessly surging forth.
If I could rain down a barrage of Holy Lances over their heads?
“......Rinen?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“How many Holy Lances can you throw in a day without stopping?”
“Up to twenty. After that, my head starts spinning and my vision blurs, so I haven’t tested further.”
“Sounds just like magic burnout. Mages end up exactly like that when they exhaust their mana.”
“Is that so? I’m no mage, so I wouldn’t...”
“It all boils down to focus. Davi?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Thank you for your cooperation in the test.”
Davi bowed his head. I shook my head and tapped the chest of Rinen, who was clad in magic armor, with the back of my hand.
“Not that. How’s this guy’s training going?”
“Knight training? It’s progressing smoothly. He’s already mastered low-grade magic armor and moved past it. That’s why I asked Your Highness to test Holy Lance.”
“That’s why? I thought it was just a power test.”
“The two are connected.”
“How?”
“As I mentioned before, Rinen has innate strength and stamina.”
Davi patted both of Rinen’s shoulders.
“His technique may lag, but he’ll soon handle higher-grade armor. This time, we’re aiming for heavy-weight magic armor.”
“Heavy-weight? Don’t higher grades get heavier anyway?”
“We try to lighten them as much as possible, but they still get heavier. Skip the lightening process, though, and you get armor with far superior durability and magic resistance for the same grade.”
“So what? Still useless if it’s too heavy to move.”
I frowned and shot back.
“It’s too heavy to use properly anyway, right?”
“Exactly as Your Highness says. Normally, yes. A knight who loses mobility on the battlefield is worthless. But Rinen is different.”
“How?”
“Equip him with ultra-durable armor that ignores enemy ranged weapons and magic entirely, and have him charge straight into the heart of the enemy lines, hurling Holy Lances nonstop.”
“......”
“What do you think? Tactically, it’d be an incredibly effective card, wouldn’t it?”
Music to my ears.
It dovetailed perfectly with the idea I’d just had for stopping otherworldly waves. I nodded and said to Davi.
“Sounds good. How about adding Holy Lance training for him starting today?”
“Spear-throwing training? He’s already got amazing talent there. As you saw, perfect accuracy every time.”
“Not accuracy. Quantity.”
“Quantity?”
“He struggles past twenty now, right? I want training to push that number higher.”
A brief silence fell. Davi looked back and forth between Rinen and me.
“You think... just throwing more will increase it?”
“If it’s like magic, yeah, to some extent. There are limits, of course.”
I pulled a sugar bar from my pocket and handed it to Rinen with a smile.
“Here, Rinen. Eat this first.”
“Huh? Th-Thank you!”
Rinen popped the sugar bar into his mouth with a flattered look. I explained the plan briefly to Davi.
“I’ll bring a box later. Feed him these whenever he hits his limit in training.”
“Candy helps?”
“Not candy—sugar bars. Anyway, they quickly restore the focus drained by magic. Keep feeding him and see how many Holy Lances he can max out at.”
“I see... Understood.”
Davi nodded as if convinced. Meanwhile, I watched Rinen grinning dopily with the sugar bar in his mouth and felt the morning’s failure fade away.
An unscheduled mage legion?
Nice if we have it, no big deal if not.
Train up just this one guy right, and he could hold a gate solo later. What’s the problem?
Sure, we might need to attach a priest who can use Shield of Light... but even that creates huge leeway in our troop deployments!
Nice. Just imagining it lifts my spirits. I handed another sugar bar to Rinen, who was smacking his lips.
Heh heh. This adorable guy. A whole vine of good fortune rolled right in—even if he’s a furry mess.
“I agree. Holy Lance has insane potential.”
Kyle came over, sighing as he spoke.
“You’re all amazing. Just being around you makes me feel inadequate by comparison.”
“N-No! Sir Kyle graduated from the Imperial Officer Academy—you know so much more, and you’re way smarter than someone like me...”
Rinen flailed his hands, hastily praising Kyle. But seeing Kyle’s souring face, it seemed to backfire.
Then, out of nowhere, Meredes appeared—she hadn’t been visible on the training ground moments ago—and bowed her head.
“You’ve arrived, Your Highness.”
“Meredes. Where’ve you been hiding?”
“I was swinging my sword alone in the woods over there. And Captain, I completed five hundred slow-acceleration swings and five hundred fast-acceleration swings before returning.”
“Good work, Meredes.”
“Something flashed over here during training. What happened?”
Meredes asked with her expressionless face. Davi clicked his tongue lightly and nodded.
“Hmm. We tested Rinen’s Holy Lance. Must’ve been quite the spectacle, yet you didn’t break focus. Impressive as always.”
“I merely followed orders.”
Kyle’s expression darkened further at her matter-of-fact reply. Rinen, trying to lighten the mood, turned to Meredes with exaggerated excitement.
“Y-Yes! The truly amazing one is Miss Meredes, not me. Yesterday in sparring, even with mid-grade magic armor, I couldn’t touch her.”
“I am merely a maid of the Lunenbreth family. ‘Miss’ is too much.”
Meredes shook her head seriously. Davi took the baton, continuing the praise relay.
“Meredes is already at a level where she could face mid-grade knights in real combat. Even in low-grade magic armor.”
“Impressive. It’s only been days since training started... Hey, where’s Didi?”
“Didi is on break.”
This time, Meredes answered.
“Didi finished training first and went into the woods to rest.”
“The woods? Why?”
“Probably because of that wolf in the forest.”
“Wolf? Oh, Regal.”
“Yes. She’s likely cuddling up to him and petting his fur right now.”
Was that jealousy in her tone? Suppressing a laugh, I asked Meredes.
“Do you like Regal, by any chance?”
“It’s the biggest animal I’ve ever seen. I like it very much.”
“Why not go pet him too?”
“I tried, but he refused. He doesn’t like the aura I give off.”
Well, yeah—anyone without a core would be the same. Maybe I should give this girl the spare core?
She’s growing fast already; it might accelerate things. But then Kyle might feel even more left out...
“Kyle?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You’re doing great as is.”
I turned to Kyle and shrugged one shoulder.
“These guys are just monsters. Keep your own pace and build your skills slowly. It’s more than enough.”
“I think so too, of course. But the heart doesn’t always follow what the mind knows.”
Fair enough. Even I’d feel inferior training next to these freaks.
But Kyle’s true value isn’t just as a knight. He’s essential for something starting right now.
“Let’s change the mood. Davi?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Kyle’s needed for something urgent. I know training’s ongoing, but can I borrow him?”
“As you wish. Just return him before evening training—I’d appreciate that.”
Davi bowed politely. I flashed Kyle a grin and turned.
“Let’s go, Kyle. Nothing moves forward without you. Mountains of work.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Kyle replied with a pleased smile. Then, as if ashamed of himself, he shook his head with a wry grin.