Published at 25th of August 2022 10:45 pm

Volume 15, Chapter 2: Nazarick-style Traveling Experience (1)

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

It could be said that there were no chokepoints in the Great Forest of Evasha where the elves reside. There were certainly places with dangerous monsters, small nations of demihumans, and impossible labyrinths, but there were no structures that could be called a fortress or impassable physical barriers. However, there existed a place that could be called a chokepoint.

It was the work of a single person.

The Holocaust Scripture’s vice-captain, Schoen, tried looking ahead of him while he hid behind the scattered trees.

There sat a girl of around 8 years old who looked even younger than her age would suggest, as Elves tended to.

She was sitting on a small chair on top of a slight incline, holding a bow too large for her. There was a quiver beside the chair with a few arrows poking out of it.

There were fewer arrows in that small quiver than could be counted with both hands, but they were informed beforehand that the arrows would never run out. There was no doubt that it was a magic item.

No one was around except for the girl.

…That was what scared him.

A hero could overturn the tides of battle by themselves. You could say that one of them was equal to an army of ten thousand. In fact, this girl in front of him had already taken over a thousand lives from the Theocracy’s army.

An army of 40,000 was being nailed down by a single girl sitting primly on a chair.

The recommended strategy in such situations was to move around the obstacle. It wasn’t like they had to break through from here. The great forest itself was a natural barrier but it was not impossible to take a detour.

That said, the opponent was not an army, but a single combatant. It was easy to take note of an enemy's movements if they were in large numbers, but this girl was more than just an exceptional combatant. As an individual, she would also be more mobile than their army. Once they lost sight of her, it would be hard to find her again. If an enemy capable of fighting an army alone was left to their own devices in the dark depths of the great forest—there was no need to say that the vanguard’s morale would take a plunge.

They could also try and delay her by pinning her down with a small force while letting the larger force advance. That was not exactly a bad idea, except for the fact that it was idiotic to divide their forces in a hostile land.

So, it could be said that this was their best chance: while the opponent was deployed (although, it’s doubtful if sitting on a chair could be considered as deployment) like this. The top brass decided that she should be dealt with while they knew of her location, even if they had to sacrifice some of their forces.

“Only a hero could stand against a hero” goes the aphorism. Nothing would be solved by sending in the riff-raff.

There were no heroes within the Theocracy’s invasion army this time, so it fell to the Holocaust Scripture to deal with this.

But there were no heroes in the Holocaust Scripture either. There used to be one, but he was transferred to the Black Scripture. In the Theocracy, anybody who stepped into the realm of heroes would be moved to the Black Scripture.

Unfortunately, Schoen is yet to step into that realm.

Despite that, they were sent to this battlefield because it was widely believed that the Holocaust Scripture could take down a hero when they worked as a team.

And that’s true.

The Holocaust Scripture can kill heroes.

But, there was a large difference between those who just stepped into the realm of heroes and those who were nearly outliers. Even if they could win against the former, it was impossible for them to triumph against the latter. That was why Schoen was observing the girl seriously.

Common soldiers, stronger soldiers, elite soldiers, heroes, and outliers… Schoen, who had seen beings of various levels, had enough knowledge and intelligence to measure her strength accurately and minimize their casualties as much as possible.

Although not comparable to the Black Scripture, the members selected for the Holocaust Scripture were elites in their own right (but you could say the same for any of the six scriptures). He didn’t want them to be killed for no reason.

Depending on her strength, he might have to give the order to sacrifice some soldiers to hold her back while they waited for the Black Scripture to get dispatched from the Theocracy.

Schoen slowly let out a slow, long breath.

Though he was hiding behind the trees with [Invisibility] and [Silence]— [Silence] was not originally an arcane spell, but this version was developed for use by magic casters—he still had to be mindful even when taking a breath.

He wanted to wipe the sweat off his forehead, but considering any of his movements could lead to certain death, he chose not to. Schoen might be a talented caster, but he was only a little better than the ordinary person at stealth without using magic.

The elf girl was probably a ranger or an archer. If it was the former, it was possible for her to sense Schoen even though he was being hidden by magic. She might not know his exact location, but she could just use an area-of-effect attack—which she was confirmed to be able to do—to smoke him out.

Schoen wouldn’t die from a single attack even if the opponent was a hero, but he was not confident in escaping smoothly if he was wounded.

Even more than his fear of death, Schoen was afraid that he might die in vain without bringing back the intel he collected.

{—But she really was an unpleasant brat}

She hadn’t made a single move since he started observing her. Her glazed expression makes her look like a doll.

But, Schoen knew she was a living being, not a doll.

After an unknown amount of time since he started his observation, the target finally moved.

Schoen’s heart flinched, worrying if the target found him at last.

However, the target did not look at him, but that didn’t mean he could let down his guard. For people who honed their skills to their limits, it was child’s play to feint with their eyes. In fact, Schoen knew that such a skill actually existed.

With his hearing strengthened by [Elephant Ear], he soon heard a large group of people approaching from behind. They were likely the ones his target noticed.

He was sure that they were his peers—soldiers of the Theocracy.

Schoen suddenly felt guilty, because he knew the reason why they were sent here.

He would not warn them, because that’s what his duty demanded.

Still, he would not leave anything unobserved. That was all he could do.

The target’s true strength could only be understood if they saw her fight. Those soldiers were the sacrifices the top brass sent for that purpose.

They were going to sacrifice the valuable lives of their comrades. Schoen turned to look behind him, making sure he would not get noticed by the target. His eyes, strengthened by the second-tier magic [Hawk-eye], spotted an arrow flying over.

The lone arrow bent around the trees in its path and then, it scattered into multiple arrows mid-air, turning into a rain of arrows that covered a large area.

The arrow was not probably aimed at anything specific. Even if she could locate her target through sound, this was in the middle of the forest. It was impossible to snipe accurately with all the trees around. But something like a [Fireball] would be able to burn beyond these obstructions. She was just emulating it by combining the ability to weave through the gaps between the trees with the ability to multiply the arrows.

Schoen’s strengthened ears picked up cries of pain from the soldiers. It seemed like no one was left unscathed.

{—cries? They are still alive?}

The soldiers milled about in confusion, fearing the arrows that came from beyond their vision. As no one managed to figure out the trajectory the arrows flew in, everyone started to run hither-thither. There was no fighting spirit left in them.

They weren’t exactly doing the wrong thing. In fact, it could be said they were responding correctly by scattering around randomly, which would let at least a few of them survive.

The girl fired another arrow.

It weaved through the spaces between trees again and then multiplied. Among the rain of arrows, the sounds of pitiful cries and trampled undergrowth gradually came to a halt.

He learned one important thing as a result of the deaths of these soldiers.

She couldn’t kill an ordinary soldier in a single attack. Of course, considering the ability—martial art—that made the arrows multiply, it stood to reason that each arrow would have reduced precision and damage. That said, a hero could kill every one of those regular soldiers with a single attack. It could mean only one thing.

{—She isn’t a hero. That brat didn’t step into the realm of heroes}

That was Schoen’s conclusion.

It was because he worked hard to match his rival, the third seat of the Black Scripture, “Earth, Wind & Fire (ft. Water)", that he could be sure of his conclusion.

(T/N: Third seat’s title should be “The Four Elements”, the same kanji as Inveria’s traditions)

She was weaker than Schoen, but that didn’t mean they could be at ease.

The fighting styles of a magic caster and an archer are strong in their own ways. Even if he was stronger than her in general, the battle could still go either way. It was also possible that she was hiding her true strength after realizing she was under observation.

But, Schoen, the observer in question, could say with certainty that she didn’t notice yet.

There was only one thing left for them to do. Remove the obstacle in the path of the Theocracy’s advance.

He activated [Silent Magic - Wall of Protection from Arrows].

He didn’t feel like that was enough preparation, but she might notice something suspicious and escape. if he tried to do more at this distance.

He can only strengthen his resolve.

[Silent Maximized Magic - Magic Arrow].

He came out of hiding from behind the tree and activated his abilities at the same time. He also activated the once-per-day trump card of the Arcane Devotee class that Holocaust Scripture required its members to acquire. He used it to access the spell-strengthening metamagics he had yet to learn. Naturally, he chose [Triplet Magic].

A total of twelve magic arrows flew out at the same time.

One could not escape from these arrows, but unfortunately, the damage of a single arrow was not enough. As long as there’s not much difference between the strengths of the opponent and the caster, it would be hard to kill them even with [Maximize Magic]. But—that was only true if he was fighting alone.

All of his subordinates were observing Schoen’s movements with [See Invisibility].

Their target’s expression changed in an instant.

Perhaps it was because she was in pain from Schoen’s attack, or perhaps it was because she saw the hundred plus [Magic Arrows] coming at her from behind Schoen.

Holocaust Scripture was entrusted with assassination and counter-terrorism work that required them to be flexible, so their teams consisted of at least four members, each with different jobs. This was similar to the adventurers’ tactics in the Kingdom and the Empire. As the adventurers’ guilds were in fact created secretly by the Theocracy, you could even call them brothers-in-arms. The tactic this time relied upon a team consisting of one common class. On top of that, only those who could use a specific skill were selected. The end result was a team of magic casters who could also use [Invisibility].

Hit.

Hit.

Hit.

Hit.

It was like wings of light flew across the sky.

The target collapsed on the ground and laid still with her face down. Even so, only Schoen approached her.

He didn’t think the target, who was an archer, could use it, but there were illusions that could make one appear dead. He can’t let his guard down yet.

He put his foot under her body and flipped her around.

There was not a single part of the child’s body that was without wounds from being hit by their magic arrows. Schoen took a closer look at her face. There was no light in the eyes that peeked out from under her swollen eyelids.

She was dead for sure.

“Huh. —Right back at you, you sh*tty brat”

They didn’t select [Magic Arrow] just so that it could be an act of symbolic revenge. People like rangers with keen senses could sometimes sense and escape from damage if they were attacked with area-of-effect spells.

Mental attacks were situationally effective at dealing fatal damage in a single blow, but there was a high probability that it would just get nullified. So, since he had others to back him up, he chose to use a method that was guaranteed to hit the opponent.

Be that as it may, it was still the best spell they could have used to take revenge for the soldiers killed by her arrows.

Schoen wrinkled his brows at the dead child’s face.

He felt like there was a hint of tranquility in it.

Maybe he was just mistaken, but if he wasn’t, that would be extremely irritating. This elf killed nearly a thousand of his comrades from Theocracy, so he wanted her to die in painful agony, regretting her actions at the end.

Schoen stopped himself before he could spit on her corpse. He had to get the equipment off of her first. He planned to do it here as there were no enemies around. He would probably feel disgusted if he had to touch his own saliva in the process, so he should spit after he took them off her.

First, the bow.

It was the weapon of an opponent who managed to stop the Theocracy’s army by herself. It should be something good.

“Good grief.”

Schoen suddenly went stiff upon hearing the nonchalant voice of a man. Although he should have responded immediately, the suddenness shocked him to a stop. Turning to look at the source of the voice, Schoen found a single elf.

There wasn’t supposed to be anyone here, there was no mistake about that. There should be no elves other than the target present. He even took care to use [See invisibility] while approaching the target.

“Human, did you know? That fighting with the strong, with one’s life on the line, is the fastest way to become stronger? Though I took her away from her mother and threw her into the battle immediately, thinking that she was a success…”

The voice sounded disappointed. The elf looked at the girl’s dead body with scorn. “You useless sh*t. You are even worse than the other failures for wasting my time. As I thought, people who can’t bring forth the king’s essence are no different than trash”

Schoen already understood who the elf was.

His heterochromatic eyes were clear enough proof.

The final target of the Theocracy.

A deplorable criminal.

It was the Elf king.

An existence that even heroes couldn’t win against, never mind Schoen. Someone above even the Outliers.

There was no chance of victory.

[Silent Magic - Invisibility]

Shoen panicked, immediately activated the spell, and moved a short distance.

Yet, the Elf king’s eyes followed him. Even though he just moved a short distance from the place where he cast [Invisibility], the elf king clearly saw him.

The moment he realized that, Schoen ran with his back turned to the Elf king. He can’t hide the grass being trampled by him even if he was using [Invisibility] and [Silence], but he couldn’t stop running.

Still, the elf king didn’t shift his gaze even a bit from Schoen. It didn’t seem like he was using [See Invisibility] to see him perfectly. He was seeing through [Invisibility] and [Silence] with just his extraordinary sight. That was why Schoen had to create some distance between them. If the opponent was not using anti-stealth abilities to find him, only increasing the space between them would make it easier to hide.

For just a moment, he regretted not using [Fly] to escape, but he couldn’t do it anyway because of one of the classes he acquired.

Adepts of Surshana had a special ability with a limited number of uses per day. This ability allowed them to extend the effective time of a spell by consuming their mana. Taking advantage of that ability, he had already exhausted most of his mana to maintain his other spells; therefore, he did not have enough mana to effectively use [Fly].

Also, one would have to be mad to use [Fly] as it made them defenseless while within the reach of the Elf king. Schoen wasn’t that desperate yet. It was more practical to use it after he could get far away enough and hide in the trees.

“—Hah”

He heard the Elf king scoff behind him.

“It’s meaningless to kill you people but—I went through all this trouble to come here, so I might as well do it to relieve my boredom.”

As a magic caster, Schoen wasn’t exactly skilled at moving his body. Even so, as someone who stood at the boundary to the realm of heroes, he could cross vast distances with little effort. After Schoen managed to get far enough away, the Elf king’s voice suddenly echoed in his ears, which were strengthened by [Elephant Ear].

“Go—Kill everyone, Behemoth”

The land shook around him. He understood that something huge had appeared without needing to look.

“Disperse!” He shouted, canceling [Silence] so that his voice could reach his subordinates.

He had never shouted so loud in his entire life. If the Elf king grimaced a bit at this, then it’s even better.

He needed his subordinates to do their best now, even if it meant throwing away some people’s lives as sacrifices. Getting the intel back home was the only way to recompense the lost lives.

Schoen, who was nearest to the elf king, would certainly die. So he turned back. If he died before his subordinates, that would be a good thing in itself.

He had seen Earth Elementals before. They were weird chubby-looking things, smaller than humans and with arms too large for their bodies. But, the one that stood before him was not such a cute thing.

A misshapen body made of boulders and mineral ore, and as large as the trees around it, enough to make one call it the Earth Elemental Lord.

Thick and long arms with stout but short legs. Maybe it would have looked comical if it was much smaller, but its arms and legs displayed power that no monster should be capable of. The elf king stood behind it, looking at Schoen’s desperate struggle with a sneer.

His attitude was absolutely disgusting.

Someone who took lives without betting his own.

Unconcerned about things like Schoen’s anger, the Elf king immediately closed the gap between them with graceful movements as if he was skating over ice. The Earth Elemental—Behemoth, lifted its two giant arms high into the air.

“—try me, you piece of sh*t! [Wall of Stone]”

A stone wall was erected between the Elf king and him.

In the very next moment, it was broken with a single strike, with its pieces melting away into the air.

Though there were other factors, the strength and durability of a wall tended to be proportional to the caster’s strength. Even so—no, maybe it showed that the Elemental summoned by the Elf king was just that strong.

Behemoth immediately lifted its left fist.

Schoen saw the Elf king standing there with a satisfied grin from the corner of his vision and understood what he was thinking. He knew what would happen. He was probably thinking that Schoen would die from the next attack.

He was certainly not wrong.

The Behemoth’s fist will reach Schoen before he could cast another spell, and then he will die.

Even so—

{I managed to buy some time}

He wasted his opponent’s time, even if it was only a few moments, but that is enough.

It was more than enough.

At least one person would survive to return to the Theocracy because of this. It’s a defeat for Schoen, but not for the Theocracy.

In the next moment, Schoen was turned into pulp by Behemoth’s fist, with a smile on his face till the very end.

♦ ♦ ♦

The Elf king—Decem Hougan, passed through his castle gate, letting out a sigh from feeling unpleasant.

It took too much time to return to the castle which put him in a bad mood.

By riding the indefatigable Behemoth, he likely returned in the fastest way possible. Even so, wasting time was a bore and he hated the stress it gave him.

Retrieving the weapons he gave to his failed creation was certainly not a waste of time—he should in fact be praised for it. The gear he gave her were things he received from his father, things that no one else could make. He could not let them fall into the hands of humans who couldn’t understand their value.

But, the problem was that there was no one else who could complete such an important task.

He didn’t have underlings who he could entrust such issues with. It was because all of them were weak.

All of them were useless.

Elves were a splendid race. His father was the proof of that fact, that they were a race that could become stronger than anyone else. If Decem was a special type of Elf like a High Elf or an Elf Lord, he would have concluded that the others were just worse and that would be the end of it. However, that wasn’t the case. His father was also just an Elf. This meant any Elf could become strong.

That’s why he couldn’t understand why the others were so weak.

How could he prove that Elves were the greatest race?

He just had to achieve something that others could see.

He just had to make this world the dominion of the Elves—of him who held such a revered bloodline.

He required excellent—strong females for that.

(T/N: he’s got the incel mentality, if that wasn’t obvious enough)

But, he couldn’t be sure which females had superior wombs until the children were nurtured. So, he sent all of his children to fight in the war but almost none of them managed to return.

He was bothered by the fact that even after doing this for such a long time, he had no results to show for it.

A female approached Decem, who looked quite menacing as he thought about various things.

“—my king”

“What is it?”

He directed his simmering anger at the female and then slightly widened his eyes with surprise.

A strong person’s (i.e. Decem’s) stare contained within it strong emotions—especially if it was filled with hostility or the intent to kill. As a result, it tended to break weaker beings. Yes, he didn’t direct his killing intent at her, only his anger. Even so, weaker beings should still be affected and though this female went pale, she withstood it.

She was just supposed to be a weak female.

In that case, how did she withstand his aura? Perhaps it was because he was exhausted. He didn’t really care but he should reward her for being able to withstand it.

So, he stopped to look at her. Decem was a merciful lord.

“How is that child?”

Who is “that child” supposed to be? What exactly was she thinking by asking him such meaningless questions instead of first thanking the king for his hard work after a long trip? He lost his motivation immediately.

“I am asking about Roogi”

Roogi.

He didn’t remember such a name.

Decem can’t really remember names, because there was almost no one who was worthy enough to be remembered by him.

From his point of view, remembering useless names was a waste of memory. It's not that his memory was limited, but there’s no meaning to using his memory for unimportant things. In fact, he couldn’t understand why so many people try to memorize useless things.

The female shifted her gaze to the bow in Decem’s hands.

“So, she died”

Something clicked in him. It was about that failure, the one who managed to die even though he gave her such precious weapons. He felt ashamed that half of the blood that flowed in her veins was his own. No—rather, it was because it was not more than half that she got killed by someone like humans.

“Yeah, she died”

“Is…that so”

Her voice trembled.

She was also probably feeling ashamed upon remembering that her blood flowed through that failed creation, but that failure was still stronger than her. This female should be even more ashamed.

But it was the king’s duty to give people a chance.

Decem felt moved at how gentle a king he was that he would show mercy even for the incompetent.

“Come to my room later. I will give you another chance”

Decem started walking without waiting for a reply. He should get these weapons to the treasury first.

After he returned from the treasury, Decem washed off the dirt from the battlefield and laid on the bed in his room.

While he was waiting like that, a man came requesting his permission to enter. He couldn’t see that female anywhere behind him.

“…What is it?”

“I have information for the king. The woman summoned by the king, named Myuugi, has committed suicide”

“Suicide?”

“Yes. She did it by jumping from the castle”

“What? She died from falling from just that height…no, I forget that you people are only that strong”

Decem pondered for a bit. He couldn’t think of a reason for her suicide. First of all, he had just summoned her to his bed, so she should have been joyful. Maybe it’s not suicide, but instead, she got murdered by someone who envied her.

“…Are you sure that it’s a suicide?”

“Yes. We are sure, as there was someone who saw her do it.”

Decem thought for a moment that maybe that witness was the murderer, but if it really was a suicide, what could have been the reason? After he mulled it over for a while, Decem finally found the answer.

“I see… So it’s something like that. I understand now. She was sorry for giving birth to a useless daughter and killed herself as an apology, right?”

“…Only she can know her true feelings, but you are probably right, my king”

The man replied with an expressionless face.

“…In that case, give her a fitting funeral. She used her life to apologize after all. It’s a king’s duty to forgive others”

“I am grateful for my king’s merciful consideration”

Decem nodded regally at the man who was bowing deeply. As he thought, kings should be merciful like this to useless beings.

Feeling extremely compassionate, Decem decided to reward the loyal man—he didn’t remember his name—in front of him.

“Do you have any daughters?”

“…Yes…I do”

“You are fortunate. Send them here if they are already of age. If they aren’t, your wife works too”

The man looked like he was deeply moved. After his body shook all over, he spoke like he was trying to squeeze the words out.

“Understood, my king…”

He left the room and Decem proceeded to forget about that female. He didn’t care about what happened to some useless female.

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