Chapter 137: Second Day of Joint Extermination

The monster extermination on the second day also showed smooth progress from early in the morning, capitalizing on the momentum from the previous day.

Although there were occasional injuries, fortunately there were no fatalities, and the extermination progressed smoothly to about seventy percent of the terraces.

Continuing to act as a reconnaissance unit, Isamu and the others zigzagged their way through the first level of the terraces.

It should be noted that while Margrave Rubindah Balsham was accompanying them yesterday, today it is Nazario Innocenti who is accompanying them.

“Nyan nyan nya~”

Orihime, perched on top of Tiramisu leading the way, seems to be in a good mood today as well. Tiramisu, acting as her pedestal, is also delighted.

The battle for the pedestal ended with Tiramisu winning, with all the exclusive knights participating in a three-way game. By the way, the three-way game is like rock-paper-scissors in this world. Sword (index finger alone), Shield (all fingers aligned like a forward salute), Magic (thumbs-up with one thumb), simultaneously determining victory or defeat. Sword > Magic > Shield > Sword, that’s the strength relationship.

As the squad led by Isamu approached, they reached around seventy percent of the terraces.

Orihime spotted a monster and flew out to confront it. Usually, she would flashily dispatch the monster and return with a satisfied look, but this time she didn’t come back after dispatching the monster.

Advancing forward, they found Orihime standing about ten meters in front of what appeared to be a Rigged Spider, crouched low, observing its movements.

“…Everyone, please stop for a moment.”

Isamu, noticing Orihime’s tail forming a “へ” shape, whispered to stop everyone while dismounting from his horse.

“Hime-sensei is in a cautious posture.”

“Yeah. Since she’s not growling, she must be warning us to be cautious.”

As expected of the stalwarts of Orihime faith. They were becoming able to grasp Orihime’s condition at Isamu’s level.

Perhaps sensing that Isamu and the others were approaching, Orihime lowered her posture even further and then, with a small wiggle of her buttocks twice, darted out.

Darting in like a bullet, Orihime swiftly cut off two of the Rigged Spider’s forelegs, disrupting its balance, then made a small jump and delivered a finishing blow to its head.

With a thud, the Rigged Spider collapsed to the ground. Normally, Orihime would return at this point, but this time she didn’t move even after seeing the corpse.

Isamu and the others watched the unusual behavior of Orihime, observing the situation.

“”””Huh??””””

A few seconds later, everyone was speechless.

The corpse of the Rigged Spider disappeared along with a lead-colored smoke.

“W-Why here!?”

Isamu’s involuntarily exclaimed in surprise, echoing the questions of everyone present, who all nodded in agreement.

“Indeed, there are some ruins around here that cannot be called completely weathered… Whether monsters come out from there or this place itself is treated as ruins. Even if it’s just one, we don’t know what will happen in the future, and the same thing might happen in other ruins. It’s a big problem. Isamu, it’s better to quickly summon all the squadron leaders, or even the platoon leaders.”

Nazario, whose territory has ruins, suggested to Isamu with a serious expression.

“Understood. Tiramisu-san, please inform Selfers-san of this. Liddell and Marcella, report to Eleonora-san down below, and request the platoon leaders for assembly.

Felix, please coordinate the messengers to the upper level. I’ll stay here with Anne as I’ll only be in the way of the messengers. Mizeroi, I’ll ask a few of you to be escorts. Gathering at the campsite would be a waste of time, so we’ll gather here instead.”

“””Understood!””””

Upon hearing Nazario’s suggestion, Isamu promptly issued instructions to everyone.

“I’ll go run as a messenger too. It’s better to leave it to us elders to deal with the knights of the upper nobility. You guys just call out to them. Some people complain if you don’t call out to them, even if they don’t listen. We’ll go and shut them up.”

Nazario said with a grin.

“Thank you very much! I’m terribly sorry to use the Lord as a messenger, but your cooperation is greatly appreciated.”

Isamu deeply bowed to Nazario’s words.

“No problem, it’s nothing major. It’s an important matter. Well, I’m off!”

With that, he gracefully mounted his horse again, gave it a tap, and dashed off.

“…He’s a really wonderful person, isn’t he, Nazario-sama?”

Annemarie, who had been watching the exchange beside him, murmured.

“Yeah. He’s the kind of man who can do that. I have to learn from him.”

Isamu nodded vigorously in response to that.

Thanks to the direct involvement of the heads of the Margrave family and even Eleonora, who had heard the story, the platoon leaders and above quickly gathered.

Just as Isamu began explaining the situation, a surprising fact came to light.

At least two incidents of monsters disappearing had occurred yesterday, and yet no reports had been submitted due to on-site judgment.

According to them, they mistook it because nothing else disappeared besides that one creature, and amidst defeating many monsters, they thought it was just their imagination.

There were no official reporting lines, so there were no repercussions, but if this were the military, it would be a punishable offense.

Seeing the excuses of the knights who didn’t report, Nazario and the others who were listening also had grim expressions.

“Well, there’s no point in blaming them now. It’s better to let it go and give the next orders quickly.”

Elenora’s decisive statement led to the formation of an investigation team and the start of further investigations.

Ideally, they wanted to form a research team composed only of Orihime faction noble families centered around Isamu, but to avoid being accused later, they also selected members from other factional heavyweights noble families.

From the Orihime faction, members were selected from the Klaufeldt and Eriksen families.

I asked the other knights to continue subjugating monsters, and to report if monsters disappeared or if anything strange happened.

“Hmm. The talk was that it had been found over the past two days, but the discovery locations seem close. Are they all gathering on the valley side…?”

After confirming the three locations where monsters believed to be from the ruins were found, a female knight spoke up.

“Yes, that’s right, Framboise-san. It’s in the first tier of the valley, covering an area about five hundred melts in diameter.”

Isamu affirmed and supplemented the female knight’s explanation.

While the investigation team was led by Battalion Commanders Selfers and Eleonora, the actual investigation was carried out by the knights, so Isamu was appointed as the commander.

The female knight—Framboise—was the knight commander of Marquis Felker’s household, whom the Klaufeldt family had faced in the semifinals.

One of the two noble families drawn into the investigation team was Marquis Felker’s family.

As I felt during the match, she was not only devoted to her lord, Samuel, but also very skilled and diligent as a magic knight.

She still immediately grasps the respective positions. She probably already has the terrain around here memorized.

“In that case, there’s a possibility they crawled up from the lower tier, isn’t there?”

This time, an opinion came from a male knight wearing white armor while riding a white horse.

“Certainly… It’s not limited to just the first tier. Thank you, Parfum-san.”

Isamu also thanked the male knight.

He was from the other noble family drawn into the investigation team, Marquis Chartreuse’s family, serving as the vice commander of the knight order.

By drawing in influential noble families at odds with each other, the aim was to maintain the neutrality of the investigation.

Moreover, even without such intentions, they were extremely skilled knights. It was inevitable to have them participate in the investigation.

Aside from these two families, knights from the Klaufeldt and Eriksen households also formed part of the investigation team.

“Then shall we split into upper and lower sections and investigate a little more? Since there are caves in the cliff sections, let’s also check around there. Felix and Framboise, please handle the upper section, Parfum and Gascoigne, please handle the lower section.”

“Yes!”

“Understood.”

“Roger.”

“Got it.”

Without expressing any particular dissatisfaction with the instructions from Isamu, who was suddenly appointed as the commander, the squadron leaders split into two groups and began their investigations.

They wouldn’t be bothered by trivial matters, as they wouldn’t lose sight of their priorities. Isamu also tightened his resolve not to disappoint them.

About an hour after starting the investigation, two more monsters presumed to be of the ruin specie, were found on the lower level.

With this, the possibility of coincidence was almost zero. For some reason, ruin-born monsters were wandering above ground.

All the monsters turned out to be Rigged Spiders.

If there were no ordinary Rigged Spiders in this area, it would be easier to identify where they were spawning, but unfortunately, ordinary monsters of the same kind also inhabit this area.

In that case, it would be very troublesome because it was impossible to know which one until they defeated it. In fact, this was not something new, but simply something that had not been discovered until now.

However, the investigation team composed of top-notch knights was exceptional.

Afterward, two more ruin monsters were captured, but their locations and conditions were also clues, and they finally succeeded in pinpointing the point of origin.

“I didn’t expect them to come out from under the debris…”

“Yes, I didn’t expect them to crawl out like moles…”

Gascoigne and Parfum, who had just witnessed them crawling out of the debris, smiled wryly.

The water was gushing out from within the mud and sand of one of the landslides that can be seen here and there between the first and second tiers.

The discoveries on both levels were biased toward the cliff side, so I thought it must have been somewhere on the cliff, but I didn’t expect that it was found in the sand and not in a cave in the cliff.

On the body surface of the Rugged Spider that was killed in the second stage, between the rugged, rock-like outer skin, we found fine gravel and soil that were slightly different in color from the ground in the second stage. By searching, I was finally able to find the answer.

“Huh? Rather than a landslide, is it being pushed out from inside the cliff?” 

Isamu muttered.

Carefully climbing up the slope formed by the landslide, and removing a little of the upper soil and sand that seemed to be the main part, it was found that it wasn’t that the cliff itself was collapsing, but that there was a hole in a part of the cliff, and the soil and sand were flowing out from the inside.

“Could a hole have been made in the cliff by some accident? If so… If this monster was a ruin monster, could there still be ruins buried inside the cliff?” 

“That’s highly likely.” 

Parfum speculated after seeing the situation and Gascoigne agreed.

“Perhaps the ground here is also mixed with ruins, such as the floor or ceiling of the ruins. So it’s judged to be inside the ruins. Well, it’s a mystery who’s doing the judging…”

“Yeah… There are ruins where monsters exist even without a roof. It’s unconventional, but maybe this place is the same as those ruins.” 

Isamu further expressed his opinion, and this time Framboise agreed. It’s clear from their conversation that Framboise has experience in exploring ruins.

“What do you think? If there are ruins buried here, should we dig as much as time allows?” 

Felix asked Isamu for guidance.

“Well… Leaving it alone may lead to more monsters appearing, so let’s dig within the allowable range. What do you all think?” 

Isamu directed his question to the leaders of other families.

“No problem.”

“I’m fine with it too.”

“If it’s a ruin, we should dig.” 

All three agreed without objection.

“Thank you very much. Now, a new issue arises. We’ve decided to dig into the cliff, but how should we do it…”

While the policy had been decided, they didn’t have any tools because they hadn’t come to excavate.

But digging by hand would be completely ineffective.

“How about using small-scale explosion magic and wind magic to dig? There’s a risk of a landslide if the power is too great, but I think it’s okay if we gradually chip away at it with reduced power.” 

Framboise suggested. It was an opinion typical of someone skilled in magic like her, and at the moment, it seemed like the best option to Isamu as well.

“Yes, that sounds good. We don’t have much time, so let’s go with that. Fortunately, there are many people here who are good at magic, including you, Franboise-san. ” 

Isamu said, and the leaders of the other families nodded in agreement.

“Then, let’s start with Framboise-san as the example,”

“Me? Alright… I’ll shoot it with about twenty percent of the normal power, but stay far away as small stones might fall.”

Upon receiving orders from Isamu, Framboise stepped forward and looked up at the cliff. Conversely, the other members took a few meters away.

After a brief pause, Framboise began chanting the spell.

“From nothingness, born of fire, blast into flames and defeat the enemy…”

At that moment, Isamu quickly gave instructions to Felix next to him.

“Felix-san, Wind Wall.”

“Got it. ‘Oh swirling wind, protect us…'”

“Fire Blast!!”

“Wind Wall.”

Almost simultaneously, the two magic spells were activated.

The light ball released from Framboise’s hand exploded spectacularly just above Isamu’s head, and then, with a rattling sound, a large amount of soil and sand rained down on them from above.

“What the!!”

“Huh!?”

“What?!”

Unexpected situations, or rather, situations that could naturally occur if mistaken, left the knights, who had thought it wouldn’t happen, wide-eyed in astonishment.

Then Felix’s Wind Wall activated like an umbrella, and everyone who had been trying to escape hastily returned under it.

The thin green wall, deployed with an incline, vigorously bounced off the falling soil and sand, enveloping the area in a cloud of dust.

Eventually, when the rain of soil and sand stopped, Ulysses dispersed the dust with a weak tornado.

“W-What are you doing! Are you trying to kill us!?”

“…Wasn’t it supposed to be released with reduced power?” 

Gascoigne and Parfum, who had come to their senses now that the situation had calmed down, simultaneously criticized.

“…Sorry. Actually, I’m not very good at reducing the power of magic. I thought I could handle it, but it seems I couldn’t after all.” 

Framboise apologized honestly.

“As expected of you to say ‘actually’… Well, whatever. More importantly, Felix, thanks for the Wind Wall. Thanks to you, we’re safe.” 

Gascoigne, now relieved, expressed his gratitude to Felix.

“No, I just followed Isamu-sama’s instructions,”

“Huh? Is that so?” 

Gascoigne tilted his head at Felix’s response.

“Yes, because more magic power than I anticipated was poured into it…” 

“Hmm? Magic advisor, can you see magic?”

Framboise interjected with a question to Isamu, who casually responded.

“Well, you see. I can only see the magic power when it’s activated.”

“I see. Anyway, thanks for your help. Tha-! What?!”

It was when Gascoigne was about to thank Isamu again.

*Rumble…*

A low rumbling sound and slight vibrations echoed around.

Perhaps because of the vibrations, small stones began to roll down from the cliff with a *plink, plink*.

“What’s that sound…?”

As Isamu looked around carefully, Orihime, who had been perched on his shoulder, jumped down.

“Fuuuuuuuuuu!”

With her fur bristling and tail puffed up, Orihime growled while glaring at the cliff from earlier.

“Wha?! Hime?! Everyone, be careful. Something dangerous is coming!!”

Seeing that, Isamu shouted. There was a moment of confusion, but these were indeed skilled knights. They quickly got into a defensive position.

Members of the Klaufeldt family had already taken a defensive stance when Orihime growled, moving away from the cliff.

*Rumble…*

The sound and vibration intensified.

As they watched the situation tensely, there was a loud *boom*, as if something had burst from the top of the cliff.

Looking in the direction of the sound, it seemed like the nearby cliff where different-colored soil and sand had come out had burst open, and something had emerged.

That something, rotating in the air, landed with a *thud*, sliding slightly.

What flew out was a Rugged Spider. However, it was one size larger than the individual they had dealt with earlier.

“They’re not done yet, huh?”

Gascoigne muttered and was about to rush out when the cliff burst open again.

This time, not just once, but the entire cliff burst open one after another with a *boom, boom*.

And just like before, Rugged Spiders flew out one after another.

The exact number was unclear, but there were probably no fewer than twenty.

Seeing this, everyone backed away from the cliff simultaneously, glaring at the monsters.

“…That’s quite a welcome.”

Framboise chuckled wryly.

“There are quite a lot of them… For now, the vanguard will form two rows. The rear will prepare for magic… huh?”

*Rumble…*

Just as Isamu began giving instructions, the vibrations suddenly intensified.

“Shaaa!!”

Orihime, who had been glaring at the cliff all this time, let out the highest level of alert.

*Boom!!*

With a loud noise, the cliff was blown away, and something huge flew out.

With a heavy *thud*, it landed on the ground.

When the earsplitting noise and vibrations subsided, it seemed that what was in front of them had caused it.

“That’s huge…”

“What? Is that a subspecies of the Rugged Spider?”

As someone murmured, it indeed had the appearance of a Rugged Spider.

However, the size difference was significant. It was about three meters tall, with each side of its square body about three meters long.

Its four eyes gleamed ominously, and it only had four legs.

“… Isamu-sama, was that in the limited area?”

“Yes, it seems to be the same type. It’s about twice as large, though…”

Without taking his eyes off it, Felix asked Isamu, who answered with a wry smile.

*Kiiiiii…*

Then suddenly, a high-pitched sound echoed around.

Looking around for where it was coming from, it seemed to be coming from the mouth area of the pseudo-Rugged Spider.

And seeing it, Isamu frowned.

“Everyone, magic is coming!! Be careful, as it’s quite powerful…”

“Nyaaaaa!!”

*Thud!*

Before Isamu could finish his warning, something like a thin band of light shot out from the opponent’s mouth towards Isamu.

Anticipating what kind of attack was coming, Orihime quickly pushed Isamu away with her body, narrowly avoiding being hit.

The ground where Isamu had been standing just moments before was gouged, and sparks flew.

“Thank you, Hime!”

“Nya!”

As Isamu quickly got up, Orihime jumped onto his shoulder, rubbing her head against his cheek.

“Now then, what should we do…”

Wiping the sweat from his forehead and lightly petting Orihime, Isamu’s muttered words disappeared into the valley along with the sand smoke.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter