Kays Translations

Interlude: Zolmnem, at Rodnea (part two)

Muderev, who had been transferred to the eastern end of the magic academy, looked around and muttered first.

“Well, the fog is thick, but we will manage.”

Despite his vague words, there is no hesitation in his steps.

With even the surrounding landscape uncertain, it is only intuition that determines where to go.

But Mudrev valued his warrior’s intuition. It was a reliable one, based on his past experience.

There was no sign of life in the area.

Muderev’s eastern end was lined with research buildings, but his own intuition did not seem to indicate that there were any humans in the buildings either. Perhaps this place is not usually used much?

“That’s all well and good, but …… we’re in a bit of a pickle.”

Muderev didn’t want to kill humans indiscriminately either.

A strong person who deserves to face him with all his might. In addition, he only eats what he gets. He thought it was enough for him to get his hands on it. Useless killings should be avoided for both humans and beasts.

But now was not the time to say so.

We needed to create a commotion and expose the heroes.

To do so, he needed the humans to scream.

“But if they aren’t there, there’s nothing I can do about it. This is Zolmnem’s miscalculation and ……”

Stopping to talk to himself, Muderev abruptly held up his club.

With a sound like an axe slamming into a giant tree,—- two throwing swords thrust into Muderev’s cudgel.

“Oh …!”

Muderev looked at his club and marveled.

Carved from an ancient tree that he had cut down, the club had never been harmed by sword, spear, or magic.

But what about it? A knife as small as Mudelevu’s finger has now stabbed it, albeit slightly. The impact transmitted from the cudgel was no ordinary feat. He knew immediately that it was magic.

“Come, O firm one, be known.”

Muderev smiled with delight in his mouth and called out to his opponent.

It was a small human being.

A woman, a child. She has unusual gray hair, and in her hand she carries a large battle-axe that bears no resemblance to her small body.

The girl does not say her name, but asks quizzically.

“What are you…”

“This one is Murderev, the demon ogre. He who overthrows you.”

“…… where did they hire you. The Chamber of Commerce didn’t have anyone like you.”

“The Chamber of Commerce?　Gahahaha, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“… anything is fine. I won’t let you go any further …!”

The girl closes the gap at once and swings her battle-axe.

Muderev anticipated this sequence of moves, but it was much faster than expected.

A battle-axe swung down, and was caught by the reinforcing metal ring on the upraised club. The impact resonated in the core of my body. A heavy, high-pitched sound of metal hitting metal roared through the air.

If it had been received with  the bare wood, the blade would have cut deep.

The girl quickly drew her battle-axe, followed by a ground-crawling blow aimed at his leg.

He put his club up on the cobblestones and blocked it again. The ogre swung his fist as if to reave, but it was dodged as she ducked down.

The girl swung her battle-axe as if to leap up this time. She is still fast. In addition, she shows no sign of flinching from the demon ogre’s fist, which could crush a person’s head.

“Gahahaha!　You are on the defensive!”

Muderev laughs.

While shrugging off the girl’s onslaught, the demon ogre warrior was calmly thinking.

This technique is impossible.

The blow is too heavy. On the other hand, her body movements are light and she does not seem to be swept away by the weight of the weapon.

Muscle strength can be compensated for by magic, but not weight. The girl is too small. Unless her body is stuffed with lead, it would be an unfeasible operation. Normally.

A smile is deeply etched on Muderev’s face.

It’s nothing.

The warrior of the ogre tribe wanted to fight with a strong person who has such an extraordinary skill.

The girl’s battle ax is swung down diagonally.

Muderev dared to receive it with the wooden part of the club.

“…!”

With a “mishiri” sound, the blade of the battle-axe bites into the club.

It does not sever the club, but it is not shallow at all. Such depth.

The girl’s expression is slightly distorted. And the weight she felt from the battleaxe suddenly becomes slightly lighter.

Muderev immediately swung the cudgel with the battle-axe, which had been —- stuck into it.

“Nuoooh!”

The battle-axe is yanked from the girl’s hand and flies away through the mist.

Whether it was intentional or not that she pulled her hand away from the hilt is not something to be considered now.

The girl leaps backward, making distance between them, and before he knows it, the throwing sword is in her hand. With a fluid motion, the sword was released.

Aiming precisely at the neck, —- Muderev took the throwing sword with his left arm.

The blade stops short of reaching the flesh of his thick arm.

The demon ogre looks at the girl with a smile on his mouth and says.

“Naive! This level …”

“You’re the naive one.”

Numerous shadows suddenly erupted from the throwing sword that was thrust into his left arm.

The band-like shadows wrapped around Muderev’s entire body, tightening and restraining him tightly.

The demon ogre warrior muttered with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“Muu …”

“I can do this much. Be quiet.”

“No, it’s bad …”

When Muderev forcefully opened his arms, the —- shadow restraints were easily torn off.

The demon ogre says to the wide-eyed girl.

“Zolmnem says I have magic resistance to all attributes. Gahahaha!　Do not use any lure, but come to me with force. With such skill, how can you say that you are not good with your hands?”

The girl quickly reached for the storage device on her thigh, grabbed the throwing sword and threw it.

Muderev had already taken a big step forward.

He swung the club in a leaping motion, knocking the throwing sword out of the air.

Then, as he cut back, he swung the club with great speed at the girl’s head.

The girl, her expression hardened, does not move. There was no longer time to lose.

The thick club fitted with a gold ring was supposed to smash the girl’s small head with the inevitable flow.

“Mmm !?”

The club cut through the air.

The cobblestone pavement at the point where he struck with his momentum shatters with a flourish.

The girl is gone.

She vanished without a trace.

He looked around to see if a counterattack was coming, but there was no sign of her. There was no sign of life anywhere.

All that remained was a single spellbook.

“mh…… face magic.”

Mudrevu picked it up.

The spellbook was —- strangely enough, cut out in the shape of a human being.

******

Zolmnem stopped and looked around.

It is an open area with no buildings around. This was not the planned meeting point.

I had been carefully checking my current location in the fog, but somehow I ended up at this place.

There are other oddities as well.

There were no students or teachers in sight, which we had expected to be the case to some extent.

What was there instead was —-

“Zol-san”

I turned at the familiar voice and saw Gal Ganis appear out of the fog.

The young man of the demon tribe looked puzzled.

“This isn’t …… near the main building, is it?　I don’t know why my feet went this way. ……”

“Yeah, I’m the same way.”

“Mhm, is that Zolmnem up there?”

“Hey, captain?”

“Soo …… why ……?”

With a voice, the figures of Ro Ni and Pirithralia appear with Muderev.

Zolmnem grows suspicious.

“You too?”

“Are you all here?　This isn’t where we’re supposed to be, is it?”

“Mmm, probably not that far off. ……”

“Munya…… more than that,…… people, there is something strange…… about them.”

“……, of course. Same here.”

Zolmnem then took a piece of paper from his garment bag.

It was a human-shaped talisman that had been cut in half.

“When I slay a person, I don’t get any kind of response. Instead, there are only these pieces of paper falling down. It must be some kind of magic…….”

“I’m the same way. I faced a strong person and just when I thought I had her down, she turned to this charm.”

“Oh, that’s what we did, too!”

“Me, too.”

Following Muderev, Ro Ni and Gal Ganis also took out charms that had been pierced or burned by fangs.

Ro Ni says in an anxious tone.

“Captain, what are we going to do …? It’s not normal. This …”

Zolmnem hesitates.

Something unusual is happening. It is certain.

Perhaps …… is waiting for us. Someone is.

If we do not defeat the heroes now, there will be no next time. It is impossible to wait for the next opportunity in a hostile land without supplies. This journey would end in failure.

But still, —- forcing the operation in this situation would surely be fatal.

Zolmnem’s intuition told him so.

Withdrawal.

It is disgraceful. Back home, we may be vilified by our fellow countrymen.

But he could not let the lives of his friends fall in vain.

Zolmunem opened his mouth to tell everyone.

And —-.

I heard a voice.

“—-Whoever is coming to you be warned, the children are coming out of their fangs, and the devil’s fire is gathering around them.”

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