12-3 Part 2
The Mysterious Book Says to Run Away
But I Have No Intention of Listening
- Magic Sword -
Translator : PolterGlast
「Your ancestor was a man as
unshakable as steel. No matter how much he was hurt, he stood back up, and in
the end, he saved all the demi-human races that were on the verge of being
destroyed. Even the Demon Nobles of the Abyss couldn't help but acknowledge
him.」
「We're leaving, Ashley. Do not
listen to this guy's words.」
「My ancestor... The first Emperor?」
Zirant is quite
obsessed with that first Emperor. For some reason, I've always felt like she
was overlapping me with him.
「That's right. He was an eccentric,
but a splendid man.」
「Is that so. Then I'll ask a
different question. What is a big shot from the Abyss doing in a place like
this?」
「You will know soon enough. It surely
won't be a bad outcome for you either.」
「What do you mean by that.」
「Exactly what I said. It will be a
much more wonderful world for you than if the Crown Prince takes the throne and
you meet the bitter fate of assassination or execution. For that imitation over
there too...」
「Stop it, Ashley!」
Leaving it to my emotions, I unleashed a sweeping strike
with the Shovel. The White Knight of the Abyss caught it with a gauntlet
that couldn't be severed, just like the Cherubim Armor.
「I told you, Zirant is not an imitation.
She is my—contrary partner.」
「Fuffufu... My apologies. But to
think you'd raise a hand against me, I like you even more. To such a you,
I shall give this.」
Perhaps thinking I wouldn't accept it obediently anyway, he
produced a silver-white ingot from empty space and tossed it diagonally behind
me.
「You made a move that wasn't in the
synopsis. You pulled off connecting a labyrinth to a labyrinth, something no
one even tried to do. On top of that, you defeated the Cherubim Armor, which
should have been absolutely impossible to defeat, just like this. Therefore, I
shall bestow upon you this Demonic Spirit Silver produced from the Abyss.」
「What are you thinking. Do you think
you've become an omniscient and omnipotent god?」
What benefit does this guy get from offering me something?
The relationship between the races of the surface and these beings of the Abyss
feels like nothing but a hostile one.
「I told you, did I not... These ones
were originally gods...」
「I beg to
differ. After being shown that, anyone would be dying to get rid of it. If you were shown the sight of someone repeatedly and
relentlessly striking that armored doll with a mere iron shovel, wouldn't you
think, 'Let me give him a more decent tool'?」
Saying she understands but doesn't want to fraternize, Zirant
averted her eyes from him. As for me, the ingot still caught my interest, so I
carefully picked it up. It's heavier than iron, but it's just the right mass
for my current self.
「You should use that Demonic Spirit
Silver to forge a new weapon. Otherwise—fufufu, well, do your best. I'll be
cheering for you from the bottom of the Abyss.」
Once the White Knight was satisfied, that Abyss Gate was
born behind his back. He swiftly turned around and vanished in an affected manner.
「—I don't even understand 10% of what
he wanted to say, but anyway, we got a good item. We're lucky.」
「We're just being played with by
them! Damn it... Calling Wagahai an imitation... What a displeasing
fellow!」
「Imitation or whatever, isn't it
fine? More importantly, let's chase after Kachua and the others.」
No matter how much I consoled her, Zirant's anger
didn't subside. So I didn't touch upon it any further and chased after Kachua
and the others at a running pace that didn't disturb my breathing.
◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇
However, it seems a problem still remained regarding this
commotion. As I ran up the labyrinth aiming for the surface, I discovered the
corpses of our comrades. That was strange. They had been cut cleanly in two by
an unbelievably strange blade.
『Hurry, Kachua is in danger!』
I know. Changing my run into a high-speed movement utilizing
my inexhaustible stamina, I ran up the labyrinth again. This must be about the
3rd underground floor. When I got there, I heard the screams of men trembling
in fear.
「That is—」
Chasing the voices and running further, something so
unexpected was happening there that I stopped in my tracks even though my
comrades were in a predicament. No, but I didn't have time for that. To draw
his attention, I shouted loudly.
「Yord!!」
At the same time, I swung my Shovel at the shitty
Prince attacking my comrades. Steel clashed with steel, and he and I
unexpectedly encountered each other in such a strange place.
「You bastard...!」
「Oh my? What a coincidence, Ashley.
To meet in a place like this, could it be that we are tied by the red thread of
fate...?」
There stood the Emperor's fourth son, Yord, and the
second son, Julius. The Imperial Knights were escorting that Julius,
seemingly pointing their swords at me as I locked blades with Yord.
However, this sword is somewhat strange. I opened up some
distance from Yord. Oh my god, I can't believe it. The steel Shovel
is gouged...
「What exactly are you doing,
are you sane, cutting down the citizens!」
「Hmph... The brat raised spoiled by Georg.
Can't you tell by looking, the magnificence of this sword...」
「Yeah, I'll explain it for you. Just
a moment ago, some filthy adventurers appeared, and I intended to ignore them,
but—Yord started saying he would use them for target practice.」
I doubted my own ears. I had thought Yord was scum
for a long time, but to think he had fallen this far...
No, even so, something is wrong. Yord's face was
cruelly distorted, and the madness emitted from his figure deviated from the
norm.
「Why didn't you stop him.」
「Because if I stopped him, I'd get
cut down too. Besides, I was interested... in the power of that magic sword.」
『Ashley, I feel the power of the Abyss from that sword...』
Don't tell me that White Knight gave such a dangerous thing
to Yord? No, it's highly likely.
I've never heard of royalty going out of their way to
descend into the labyrinth of Ratatosk until now. If so, it's not
unnatural to view it as them having made a deal with the Demon Nobles of the
Abyss. Yord, in particular, is a man who would do anything to win.
「If you go missing, Georg will
probably be sad...」
「You intend to fight me?」
「Do you intend to win?! Do you think
you, who couldn't even win against Georg, can win against me, the
strongest in the Empire, Yord-sama?! You fool!」
「The fool is you. The strongest in
this Empire is Georg-aniue.」
It's a blade that gouged the steel Shovel just by
locking blades. Utilizing techniques so as not to clash directly with that
blade, I crossed swords with the scum Yord.
「Oh, you're surprisingly good... But
it's sweltering so I'm heading back first. Also, Yord, that guy is
useful so don't kill him. He's the weakness of Georg, whom you hate so
much.」
「Shut up, get lost already...」
「Oh, scary. 'I wish Ashley
would just die,' Mama says, but if you kill him, Georg's stubborn head
will—」
When Yord pointed the magic sword at him, the second
son of the Imperial Family retreated with a creepy half-smile.
I'd like to go home together too, but Yord seems to
have gone completely crazy and doesn't look like he'll let me escape. Once
again, a dangerous sword flash from the magic sword flew this way.
「Bullying your younger brother, what
kind of older brother does that make you?」
「Excluding Georg and Atomina,
there is no one who acknowledges you as a younger brother.」
「Father acknowledged me as his son.」
「He went crazy from the illness.」
「Well, it's probably not unrelated to
the illness. Facing death, Father confronted his own karma.」
I exchanged blows with Yord again. This is really
bad. The precious Shovel I received from Georg-aniue and Atomina-aneue
was being gouged miserably, and eventually, a part of the tip was cut off.
『Shall I freeze him to death?』
I hesitated at Zirant's question. If I use that
method, I can certainly kill this guy. But if Yord dies, the current
order will collapse. But, this man will likely target my Georg-aniue.
「Please do.」
「What did you say?」
『Umu, leave it to me. A magic sword
given to a madman. You are correct, this one should be killed here.』
Zirant's ice
power overflowed into the Shovel that was on the verge of being
half-destroyed. And with that, I clashed the Shovel and the magic sword
together with Yord.
「Nu, Nuaaaaaaah?!」
What's wrong, Zirant, only his right hand is frozen.
『Sorry, it seems I lost in power to
the magic sword... This is bad, the magic power won't transfer to the Shovel
anymore.』
As a price, one Shovel was ruined. I reluctantly
discarded the now unrepairable thing and drew my sub-weapon, the Scoop.
With that just now, Yord completely snapped. With that frozen hand, he seems
intent on killing me.
「To the arm of I, the strongest in
the Empire, Yord-sama, u-ugh... What, what what what have you done, you
shitty braaaat! I'll fucking kill you!!」
「I'm amazed to hear that from the
Knight Commander. Even thugs spit out more decent lines.」
『Are you an idiot for provoking him
in this situation!』
No, it's appropriate. It's more convenient if he loses
himself. Yord swung the magic sword recklessly and chased me, who is
extraordinarily agile, around.
「No matter how strong the magic sword
is, it's a waste of treasure like that. Wouldn't it be better for you to go
home quickly and treat that hand?」
「Shut up, you deformed monster! The
day I kick him down and become the Emperor, I'll execute you miserably!! I'll
cut off your fingertips one by one—」
「I don't think my life will last
until then.」
「Then die now!」
「How incoherent.」
While doing this, I was cornered against the wall of a dead
end. His sword was unleashed in a sweeping strike.
「—Now, do it!」
But you misread my agility and my reluctance to give up.
Sorry for using the usual trick, but he tripped on a sudden depression that
appeared at his feet, and his sweeping strike caught on the labyrinth floor.
「U, gah, uguuuh?!」
Furthermore, he was sniped three times in the gaps of his
armor by arrows suddenly flying from behind, and he ended up letting me escape.
It's Kachua. As expected, it seems she had no intention of showing
herself after shooting arrows at the royal Yord.
「Wait, Ashleyyyyyy!!」
「I refuse. I wanted to dispose of you
here too, but it seems impossible without a weapon. Have a hard time returning
to the surface at best.」
As expected, I'm not stupid enough to fight an Abyss magic
sword with a gardening tool, the Scoop. I fled the scene at top speed
and met up with Kachua ahead.
◇ ◆ ◇
It doesn't really matter, but on the way, I encountered the
other scum older brother.
「Hey Ashley, did you perhaps
just go and fucking kill Yord? If so, I'll have to revise my evaluation
of you again, you know...?」
「Like I could fight something like
that, I obviously ran away.」
「Well, I suppose so... My, how scary,
my precious younger brother Yord has been captivated by a magic sword...
Aah, how sad...」
「Is that so. Then excuse me for going
ahead.」
「Wait, Ashley. With Father's
demise as an opportunity, an interesting era is coming. However, to create a
new order, chaos is necessary. You should greatly enjoy that chaos. Mama says
she hates you, but I don't dislike the current you that much...」
The grown-ass older brother was saying something, but since I am the adventurer Shinza, I ignored him and passed them by. After that, I protected the surviving comrades who had gone ahead, and we returned to the town of Ratatosk.
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