Strange Grief Wants to Retire ~ The Weakest Hunter Dreams of a Hero ~

“Wooooooooooooooh!” (Knight)

　A knight wearing the familiar Imperial Guard armor charged toward three deep blue Dragons floating in midair.
　He roared loudly and swung his sword down, but to his surprise, the tip of the sword, which was filled with his burning spirit, didn’t even touch the Dragon.

　It wasn’t because his sword was too slow.
It was the Chilldra’s movement that was too agile.
　It was too agile, too moveable.
Even from the sidelines’ point of view, the Chilldra’s three-dimensional evasive maneuver was shockingly agile.
　Even to the untrained eyes, the Knights’ blade was sharp and brilliant, but it seemed that he lacked experience in fighting small and fast Phantoms.
This was unavoidable since most Monsters and Phantoms were larger than humans.

　I erased the illusion of Chilldra that I had left out and blurted out.

“They are smaller than I expected.” (Cry)

　The Chilldra that the knight was fighting with was two times smaller than the ones I had encountered in the past.
　My illusion was about the size of a large dog, but the Chilldra that the knight was fighting against were only the size of a cat.

　The Chilldra completely avoided the sword that was coming at him and glowed faintly.
It was the sign of a breath.

“This isn’t the time to be talking about its size, desu! F-Fire was it――『Flaming Swallow (Engeki Hien)』!” (Kruz)

　Kruz shouted as if she was going to throw up, and tapped her long staff on the floor.
　The change was instantaneous.
A spark of fire was born in front of me, and in no time at all, it flared up and took the shape of a bird.
It was an offensive magic.

　A bright and shining bird of flame took flight without a signal.
Its speed was no less than that of a Chilldra.
　As the flame flew fast and soundlessly, the Chilldra stopped their breath attack and floated up softly and avoided them without a care in the world.
And at the moment when its head turned toward us, its blue body was engulfed in flames.

’

　The flaming bird that was once evaded, turned back and struck it.
　Tracking offensive-type magic――I am not a Magic scholar, but to be able to use this level of offensive magic in an instant is no easy task.
I knew Kruz wasn’t weak, but this was the first time I had seen her in action.

“You good, that’s for sure!” (Cry)

“Shut up, are you making fun of me, desu! 『Flaming Flock of Swallow (Engeki Engun)』”  (Kruz)

　Kruz casted a new spell without taking a break.

　The Chilldra which had been hit by the flaming bird wasn’t dead.
Its wings were scorched, but it still had enough energy to float in the air.
The remaining two Chilldra were also fully prepared for battle and were hostile to us.
　The countless sparks of fire that were created turned into a flaming bird that was one size smaller than the one before.
Then, they all began to fly at once.

　A white vapor rose as the flaming bird and Ice Dragon collided.
The knight who had been fighting them was completely left behind.

　Kruz used the staff to support herself and said as if she wanted to throw up.

“Kuh, my Magic power――” (Kruz)

“Eh!? You are already empty!?” (Cry)

　I thought Spirit People had dozens of times more magic than humans!? When I said that unintentionally, Kruz was surely glaring at me.

“!? Yowaningen, this is all your fault, desu! In the first place, I am not very good, with fire magic! Desu!” (Kruz)

“But if it was Lucia――” (Cry)

’

“You want me to punch you, desu!? Protect me, properly, desu! Eii, that guy over there, don’t hang around, you are in the way! Because of you, I can’t use long-ranged Magic!” (Kruz)

　The male knight hurriedly moved to the side of the wall as Kruz yelled at him with a pale expression.
　Between the flaming bird and the Ice Dragon, the former was dominating.
However, Chilldra are indeed Dragons, they are quite durable.
　No matter how many times it was hit by the flaming birds, it only burned a little bit and didn’t slow down or show any signs of falling to the ground.

　………… It is a little bit late, but maybe…… Chilldra’s weakness isn’t fire?

“Damn, they are too sturdy, desu.
Yowaningen, are you really sure that their weakness is fire, desuuu!” (Kruz)

“G-ganbare, gangareee1!” (Cry)

“S-Shut upp! Pipe down, desuuu! 『Deathly Blazing Wind (Ennetsu Satsu Fuu)』! Haaa, haaa――” (Kruz)

　A sparkling red wind calmed the corridor down.
The Chilldra made a scorching sound and made a small cry.
It nearly crashed for a moment, but then flew strongly as if it had quickly recovered.

“Impossible.
How come they are still going strong despite me attacking them with their weakness, desu!” (Kruz)

　Sweat started to pour down from Kruz’s forehead as she stubbornly glared at the Dragons.
　However, her long and slender limbs were shaking and her breathing was becoming ragged.
The depletion of her Magic power was coming close.
Apparently, recharging the Barrier Rings was more taxing than I expected.

　At that moment, the male knight who was standing by the wall kicked the floor heavily.
He jumped into the magically heated atmosphere and swung his sword vigorously at the staggering Chilldra.
　His white sword filled with his burning spirit strikes the body of a Chilldra.
As expected, it didn’t go so far as to cut it in half, but the Chilldra was knocked on the floor with great force and screamed in pain.

　Without even seeing it fall, the male knight slashed at the other Chilldra.
It was a series of fury blows.

’
　The upswing blade hit one of the Chilldra while the other one moved widely in order to avoid it.
　The knight screamed in a hazy voice as he attacked violently.

“Haaa, haaaaa…… Gooo! I am… Fine… By myself, now… G-Go to his Majesty――Kuh.” (Knight)

“Okay.
Kruz, let’s go.” (Cry)

　The man kept attacking while his face was turning red.
His movements were sharper than the beginning, maybe because he stopped being prudent.
　The Chilldra were injured.
If they are like this, I doubt he would be defeated so easily.
I am sorry to say this to him, but for his sake, we should give priority to the Emperor.

“Haaah!? Are you serious, desuka!?”  (Kruz)

　I silently removed my chain from my waist, activated it, and threw it.
　The 『Dog’s Chain (Chained Dog)』 landed on the floor on all four legs and jumped on the Chilldra that was in the air.

　Please make it so that they don’t break it.

　As if I was praying, I closed my eyes and said to a stunned Kruz.

“Come on, he is fine now.
Let’s go.” (Cry)

　We have to move fast, if even one person dies, it won’t be a joke anymore.

　I have to seriously scold Sytry after this.

’

 

§　§　§

 

　Inside one of the rooms of the inn.
A man looked up at the ceiling, where angry shouts were flying and made a small smile where only his mouth was smiling.
　I was surprised that the assault that should have occurred, didn’t occur, but this time too, the 『Curse』 was activated successfully.

　I carefully wrapped the sinister jet-black jewel I had in my hand――『Proof of Immortal Dragons』 in a magical cloth and put it away.

　The Dragons which will have been controlled won’t stop until they have killed their target.
　In front of the anger of real Dragons, the Knight of the Imperial Guard’s inside the escort would find themselves helpless.

　By this time, I am sure 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》 is in a panic right now.
It was the Dragons you asked for.
　Or did he predict everything, even the point where the man uses a curse?

　From my observations, 《Infinite Variety (Senpen Banka)》 was a man that contradicts the rumors.
His every move seemed to be pointless.
To top it all off, he even made the obvious mistake of causing a delay in the Emperor’s itinerary.
He didn’t look like he deserved our attention at all.
　There were some changes in the plan, but things were going so well that it was hard to believe that a Level 8 Hunter had intervened.
　If it continued like this, the goals appointed to the man would be accomplished without any problems.

　There were some concerns though――But then the man frowned and stopped his thought when he got to that point.

　Either way, the job remains the same.
What they asked the man wasn’t to make judgments.
But it was just to faithfully do what needed to be done.