19-8
The Beastman
Country Kaha and the Swarm of Ants
Translator : PolterGlast
・A
True-Blue Mole
Returning to the
ruins of the A-Zir Empire, we advanced through the underground tunnel
located in its southern part. This side had relatively few cave-ins. While
pulling the cart carrying the white wolf Yashu and the black-horned Sigrun,
I advanced rapidly through the underground passage. Collapsed sections were
rare, but most of them
were large-scale ones that would be difficult to repair if it weren't for me.
Silently advancing, silently repairing, I transported the white wolf and the
oni who were snoring on the cart. Thus, at the end of a long journey, we
arrived in the beastman country of Kaha. Since there's no way to keep
track of the passing of days in the underground world, I don't really know how
many days had passed. Speaking from feeling, it helped that we arrived sooner
than I expected.
『Why do
you want to see Carral's face so much? Have you ever thought about it?』
「Who
knows. I don't know, but I think it's strangely a face I don't get tired of.」
In the beastman
country of Kaha, there also exists Port Ake, a port of the
Coastal Provinces. In other words, at the same time as achieving the order of
the Book of the Evil Dragon, I can also ambush and scare Carral here.
Furthermore, the calculation is that we could get a ride on her ship and return
to our country easily.
『To wagahai,
it doesn't look like such an interesting face. Whatever, hurry up and meet the
King of Kaha and finish your job...』
It seems my ancestor
connected the tunnel to an old shrine. When we passed through it and came out
above ground, we were in the middle of a forest. No, I should correct it to a
jungle. Tropical trees that I had only ever seen in illustrated encyclopedias
lined the area, and it was unbelievably hot and humid.
「Alriiight,
time to strip!」
「If Sigrun-sama
strips any further, she'll become a pervert, wan!」
「Yeah,
I also don't feel like walking around with a pervert. I don't mind you taking
your clothes off, but I'll have you keep a distance where people won't think
we're companions.」
Before Sigrun
could say she was stripping, I picked her up and put her on the cart. Since Yashu
also hopped on neatly, I grabbed the cart and looked up at the sky swallowed by
the trees. Fortunately, a single road ran in front of the shrine. Without
hesitation, I proceeded on the path heading west.
「U-Umm,
Ashley-sama... is this direction correct, wan!?」
「Yeah,
over there is south and this way is west.」
「Well,
advancing is faster than getting lost! If we're wrong, we can just turn back!」
It's the power of
the sense of direction skill given by
the Book of the Evil Dragon. It's plain if you call it plain, but for a
mole-man like me, it was an ideal ability. The tropical forest flowed by as if
melting, and we earnestly advanced along the path. As long as we headed west,
even if we couldn't reach the royal capital, we would likely arrive at Port
Ake, a key point of distribution. However, regrettably, after rushing
forward for a while, the forest opened up, and a city with an outer wall
appeared across the plains.
「Red
walls! That's the royal capital, kyan!」
「Hahaha,
too bad it wasn't the port where Carral appears, Shinza! ...Hm,
what's that?」
「Which
one are you talking about? Hm... there's something there.」
「Both
of you have eyes that are way too good, kyan!」
I took off my lenses
and once again checked the black something in the distance. Numerous
black dots were squirming, and they were advancing towards the walls of the Kaha
royal capital. Furthermore, people were emerging in droves from the other side
of the gates...
「Wahahahahah!
Rejoice, Shinza, that's a battle!♪」
「W-Wait
a minute, kyan!? A war is a problem, kyan, Ashley-sama,
please save everyone!」
「You
don't even need to ask. Besides, it seems one side isn't human; we can rampage
without any reservations.」
I pulled the cart
and ran again. Little by little, the scenery became clearer. This is the
country of beastmen. Thinking it wouldn't matter if I kept my dragon eyes as
they were, I maintained my vision without putting the lenses back in. Then, I
finally understood their true identity.
「It's
ants!! Shovel Man, those are Abyss Ants! They're the lowest kind of monsters
that even devour humans!♪」
「N-No
way... everyone will be eaten, kyan!」
「There
are a lot of them... But why aren't they using the city walls?」
「They'll
just dig holes and get inside in the end! A field battle is obviously better
than a chaotic melee involving the citizens!」
「Sigrun-sama's
mind works incredibly fast only at times like this, kyan...」
Their numbers were
beyond comparison to the incident in Ratatosk; there must be a hundred of
them. If troops are lost here, requesting reinforcements for the Imperial
Capital could become difficult.
「Yashu,
that's too much for just me and Sigrun to handle. You help out too.」
「I-I'm
scared, but understood, kyan... Sigrun-sama, Ashley-sama,
if I'm rude, I'm sorry, wan...」
「Hurry
up and eat those dangerous leaves, the festival is starting!!」
Was it the leaves of
Koruriha? It's said that a beastman who consumes it awakens their
fighting instinct, overcoming the gentleness of a race unsuited for battle.
「Nguu?!
S-Stop calling them dangerous leaves or things like that, kyan!? I
really don't want to use it, but since it's to protect my comrades, I'll endure
it—ugh!」
It seems she was a
bit too slow in taking it. By the time Yashu crouched down in the cart, Sigrun
had already pounced on the Abyss Ants right in front of us. And she showed me
something unbelievable... The armor of those things that even I couldn't cut,
she cleaved their front legs in two with her sword.
「Muu,
the resistance is heavy...! They're too hard!」
「You're
crazy after all.」
Thanks to that, I
neatly managed to jump onto the enemy's back and thrust my shovel into the
joint connecting its thorax and abdomen. With this, that's one destroyed.
However, it feels softer than last time... With this ancestor's shovel, I
wonder if perhaps I can pierce through these guys. Before I had time to think,
fresh enemies swarmed in front of us.
「Be
careful, Shinza, if you get chomped by those jaws, it's over!」
「Why
such a subtly cute expression! Hm, are these guys different from before...?」
The enemy deemed us
as formidable foes and formed a coordinated attack with four of them. Come to
think of it, it was written in the encyclopedia. Ants are colony organisms, and
they counter strong enemies as a swarm.
「For
mere ants, your tactics are cheap! Oh right, for times like this, there's this!」
Sigrun is a
troublemaker. Suddenly, an incredibly unpleasant high-pitched sound that made
me want to cover my ears echoed out.
「I-It's
loud, kyan!! Big sis Sigrun, that's so loud!!」
It was a vibrating
sword. When it touched the front legs of an Abyss Ant, the legs flew off
without any force needed, as if she were swinging a saw. Furthermore, it seemed
to have the effect of stimulating the sensitive hearing of the crouching Yashu,
forcing her to participate in the battle.
「Alright,
then you guys go assist that lot! Sessha will run wild here!」
「Big
sis, it's seriously loud so stop it, kyan!」
Who was it, the guy
who gave her such a nuisance of a sword... It's no good, I can't fight
alongside her either. Even the Abyss Ants were confused, their antennae
trembling at the terrible sound.
「I'll
say it just in case, but don't die.」
「I
can't take this anymore, kyan, I'm going, kyan, I'm leaving this
behind, kyan!」
「Wahaha,
this is fun! Come at me, more and more! Doryaaaaa!!」
Since she didn't
seem to hear me, I put Yashu on the cart bed and forced my way through
the swarm of Abyss Ants. As soon as I arrived at the front lines on the other
side, I turned around and joined the fray.
「Wh-Who
are... O-Ooh!!」
When I slammed my
ancestor's shovel into the enemy's front leg with brute force, the resistance
was quite heavy, but I managed to slice it off. This can work. All that's left
is for me, a muscle-brain as they'd say in the words of the other world, to
destroy the enemies with sheer power. As the ants swarmed me one after another,
I decisively struck and severed their front legs one by one. Being told by Zirant
that I wasn't fully utilizing my physical abilities, I might have felt the urge
to fight using brute strength.
「Listen
up, you lot, clean out your ears and hear this! This person right here is
Prince Ashley-sama of the A-Zir Empire! Ashley-sama has
come to save us, so show some damn gratitude!!」
「Yashu,
don't just flap your mouth, move your hands.」
The beastman army
was boiling with excitement. Every time the originally indestructible armor of
the Abyss Ants was destroyed, it became a source of hope, raising their morale.
It was also fortunate that Sigrun in the rear was acting as a decoy.
Perhaps having seen what I did earlier, Yashu used her excellent leaping
ability to get on the enemy's back and pierce its joints with her knife. When
the beastman army followed suit, the battle situation completely turned in our
favor. From there, it was over in a flash. Chasing down the fleeing Abyss Ants,
we ended up finishing off the last one alongside that mass of noise known as Sigrun.
「Shinzaaa♪
You really are strong, wahahaha!」
「You're
too loud! Turn that sword off quickly, the beastmen are crouching down
clutching their ears...!」
「...Oh,
that's right! Let's see, press this... hmm? Sorry, I seem to have forgotten how
to turn it off!」
「Don't
try to use such a noisy sword when you don't even know how to turn it off!」
After that, I was forced to take out the instruction manual from Sigrun's item bag, and somehow or other managed to stop that disaster of a sword. My ears haven't stopped ringing for a while now. The peace of the royal capital was protected, but it seemed Sigrun was already recognized by the beastmen as a natural disaster...
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