Run, Silver Fang (Behind the Scenes)Let"s go back to the earlier part of the story.
I let out a deep sigh… after Reus broke the Oath of Silver Moon and ran away together with Marina.
Later in the future, I might be beaten by Reus who would knew this matter from Fia, and there was also the possibility that he would left us because he got invited by Albert to remain here.
Nevertheless, I was lying in order to forge Reus" independency.
"But… I never want to lie to that guy." (Sirius)
"Sirius-sama?" (Emilia)
"Lie… Does that mean Fia-san"s story about her hometown is…" (Reese)
"Aah, to tell you the truth…" (Sirius)
And then, I told the truth to Emilia and Reese.
The matter about Fia"s hometown being attacked was a lie. I deliberately forced Reus to choose a tough decision by making him going against my judgment.
Although this was my own selfish way in doing things, Reus was probably happy to move according to my decision without worrying too much.
But, Reus said he wanted to catch up with me be able to protect my back.
In short, he wanted to be my partner, but if it was going to be like that, the story would turn around.
I acknowledged Reus" ability, but he was still inexperienced.
More importantly, I didn"t want to entrust my back to someone who waited for my orders or just obeyed my words.
Which was why the lie this time was to evaluate him, but if he found out our situation, he wouldn"t choose to abandon his friend even if he broke the Oath.
If he grew up like that, someday…
After finished talking to Fia who was my accomplice, Emilia and Reese came close to me with a smile.
"I understand the reason, but you are not only lie to Reus. You also lied to us–… Pang!]"(Reese)
"That"s right! Please properly explain to us!" (Emilia)
"Sorry–… guhh!?? Ouchhh!?" (Sirius)
"…" (Fia)
"Fia-san? It"s pointless to run away, you know. Muhh-!" (Emilia)
"You are also guilty, Fia-san!" (Reese)
"A-ahaha… Don"t be too hard on me." (Fia)
As a punishment for deceiving everyone, I got a slap on my cheek from Reese and Emilia bit my neck. Compared to Reus suffering, their punishments weren"t that much, so I resigned myself and accepted it.
In the meantime, Fia, who was conspiring with me, was banned for drinking for two days, starting from today.
"Haa… well, is a matter of course to cheat Reus? It"s not bad to be prohibited from drinking once in a while." (Fia)
"…Sorry." (Sirius)
"You don"t have to be sorry, Sirius. I am also convinced after listening to your explanation, so it was also my own fault." (Fia)
Goodness, I couldn"t say anything if they told me that far. I had to make up for it this time.
"In that case, if Fia-san"s story was a lie, will it be alright if we fight the monsters on this side?" (Emilia)
"Yes, that"s what we are going to do… Hokuto!" (Sirius)
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
"Go after Reus and Marina, and bring them to Albert. And keep secretly watching over Reus after you send him." (Sirius)
I considered this as an ordeal for Reus, I ordered him not to defeat monsters as much as possible unless necessary.
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
The barking Hokuto reliably ran off from us like a wind.
With this, Reus" side would probably be alright, but…
"Shall we clear this side and head there to see the situation?" (Sirius)
"No matter what you said, you still worried about Reus, right?" (Emilia)
"Is it bad?" (Sirius)
"No. That definitely who you are, Sirius-san." (Reese)
While Reese was delightfully smiling, it couldn"t be helped because it was worrisome.
And then, Emilia was…
"Mmmphhuu…" (Emilia) (TLN: Not sure what she"s talking since she still bit him atm.)
She kept her cheek upright while biting my neck.
"Say… is this child having the urge to do it now?" (Fia)
"Which remind me, Emilia said that biting neck and shoulders is a proof of couple in Silver Wolf Tribe." (Reese)
"Come now, stop it, Emilia." (Sirius)
"Auu… M-more…" (Emilia)
Since Emilia seemed didn"t want to be separated from me, I forcibly pull her off, but apparently, her arousal still hadn"t settled down.
Anyhow, I rearranged my thoughts while stroking Emilia"s head to calm her down.
"From now on, we will merge with Parade"s subjugation group, but…" (Sirius)
According to the information heard in advance, it seemed that the fighting power of the monsters was way higher than the Parade"s suppression groups. They could win by using spells and traps, but it was considerably intense when thinking about the damage.
However, if we, who were going to leave the town someday, completely annihilated the monsters, it would lessen the sense of crisis of the whole town. So, it would become various troublesome situation if they knew what we did.
Because of that…
"I think we should thin out the monsters before it clashes against the suppression groups. I will shoot the monsters from that hill, while three of you will merge–…" (Sirius)
"Aah, wait a second. Can you leave me the task of thinning out the monsters?" (Fia)
"I don"t mind, but you can"t completely annihilate the monsters, you know?" (Sirius)
"Yes, I have a spell that can cause moderate damage." (Fia)
I decided to leave it to Fia since she answered it with confidence with one eye closed.
Anyway, Emilia and Reese would join the subjugation groups, while Fia and I would move to a high hill to overlook the battlefield.
The battlefield was a rather large plain where there was no big obstacles.
In one corner, Parade"s subjugation groups were arranging a formation and preparing to engage the monsters. When I shifted my eyes to the opposite side, I was able to confirm the figure of the monsters trying to approach the town of Parade and the scene of them widely extended.
The battle would probably start when the monsters had pa.s.sed the center of the plan and spells unleashed by the subjugation groups.
"There seems to be slightly more monsters than the information heard. Are you going, Fia?" (Sirius)
"Leave it to me. I will show you the power of Wind Spirits." (Fia)
Fia started to concentrate and put both hands forward. She started singing while increasing mana. (TLN: 歌う / Utau – Sing is used in this sentence)
According to her explanation earlier, this was not a chanting but something that was unique to her…
[It seems that the Wind Spirits love my songs. Because of that, they seems to be more enthusiastic when I sing.] (Fia)
In other words, she was singing to unleash a large scale Spirit Magic.
While the beautiful singing echoed, I checked the flow of mana with [Search], and I found that the overflowing mana from Fia was moving toward the center of the plain.
I couldn"t see Spirits, but I memorized the feeling out of place with mana swirling in the middle of the plain, so I guessed the Wind Spirits were swirling over there.
Fia"s song ended after a while, but… there was no changes in the plain.
"… Is the spell not invoked?" (Sirius)
"It is like when you use [Impact], it can be remotely controlled… I think? This is the same as that, I will invoke it if I ask the Spirits. And when the monsters come later…" (Fia)
Since Fia"s mana was swirling like a circle in the middle of the plain, one would not know unless they had superior sensing ability.
Fia raised one hand when the monsters stepped into the center, and…
"Now, everyone, it"s time for go all out… defeat them!" (Fia)
A huge tornado rolled around the center of the plain at the same time when her hand was swung down.
Although the movement of the tornado couldn"t be seen from that place, its range was wide and nearly 30% of the monsters were swallowed without able to do anything.
I thought of using [Anti Materiel] if Fia couldn"t make it, but I supposed that I didn"t have to do it.
"It is only for monster, so there is no need to worry. And they can"t run away from it." (Fia)
The tornado tore the limbs of the monsters and it had enough power to shave the ground and dig a hole.
However, when I checked with a handmade telescope, the tornado seems to be ineffective against monsters with tenacious body like Ogres.
Even after the tornado disappeared, it was still on rampage…
"Shall I bring it down…" (Sirius)
Anyhow, I didn"t need any reason for this.
Therefore, I prioritized the large monsters swallowed by the tornado by using [Snipe] with an image of a Sniper Rifle.
By reading the flow of the wind, I continued unleashing the spell and reducing the numbers of demon while correcting the error of the impact point. A wide variety of spells were unleashed from the position of the subjugation groups and it fell to the incoming monsters which were outside of the tornado range.
Since the subjugation group were surprised at the sudden appearance of the tornado, n.o.body came close to it. I was relieved.
"The tornado is also going to disappear soon. It"s going to be fine after this." (Fia)
A huge number of monsters were blown away by Fia"s tornado and I killed nearly half of the large monster with my sniping.
If the differences in war potentials unfolded, the battle would surely lean towards the subjugation team.
But… what was this odd feeling that I felt for a while?
"Well then, shall we go to where Emilia and Reese are? We are not doing in secret this time, but we have to act where everyone can see." (Fia)
"…" (Sirius)
"Sirius? Hey, what"s wrong?" (Fia)
"Fia, return to the place earlier. I"m concerned about something." (Sirius)
"…I can go back if you want, but is there anything I can do for you?" (Fia)
Fia answered without asking my reason while having serious expression.
Yeah. Fia probably could follow me since she could fly alone, so should I asked for her a.s.sistance?
"If that"s the case, do you want to follow me? I want to go around behind that group." (Sirius)
"Sure. Shall I bring us together there?" (Fia)
"Please. I want to focus a bit and investigate." (Sirius)
"Hehe, leave it to me! Although you can be unscrupulous at this time, I"m happy to be at your service." (Fia)
I was bitterly smiling, but the feeling of tense was somehow untied because of Fia who seemed to be happy.
After that, we flew into tthe sky by Fia"s spell and flew to the rear of the monsters.
We greatly diverted while taking distance so as not to be noticed by the people of subjugation groups and the monsters. And then, I used [Search] again when we were at the rear side of the monsters.
Since I left the flying to Fia, I was able to concentrate and use [Search].
"…As I expected, there is somewhat strange reaction." (Sirius)
"Is that what you worried about?" (Fia)
"Yeah. Although it is hard to notice due to the densely packed monsters, there is an obviously different reaction blended in the group of monsters." (Sirius)
There was one living life-form which was a monster regardless and it had a unique mana.
However, while such a mana was in a densely packed of monsters, I clearly felt a sense of impurities.
When I carefully listened after landing on the ground, the sound of battle where the first group of monsters collided with the subjugation groups started reverberating.
It seemed that there was not much time until the group made a contact with this unique reaction.
"It is close if it is from here. I will run and attack it while FIa…" (Sirius)
"Is it alright if I prevent the monsters from approaching you?" (Fia)
"Aah… I leave that to you then." (Sirius)
Together with the dependable Fia, I kicked the ground and a.s.sault the hordes of monsters.
A surprise attack from the back of the enemies was effective against people, but it had no meaning against monsters that lived on instinct.
For that reason, the monsters were attacking on instinct at the same time of my a.s.sault, but Fia blew away all approaching monsters with Wind Magic.
"I have no time to play with you, go away!" (Fia)
"As expected of you!" (Sirius)
"Hehe, of course!" (Fia)
Fia, who ran side by side, was in charge of my side and rear while she flew in the sky. On the other hand, I was running while blowing away the monsters from the front with [Impact].
The objective was found after unleashing spells for several times, but it was really a strange monster.
"What… is this?" (Sirius)
There were countless Ogre"s arms, and the bottom half was a horse-shaped monster. It was a monster with… a serpent-shaped tail.
The parts of the monsters which could be caught in the surroundings were joined together like a cloth sewing. The monster seemed like a tale in the previous life.
"The balance of its body is bad. What a disgusting monster…" (Fia)
"It"s not just the appearance that is disgusting." (Sirius)
Even without touching and [Scan] it, I could understand its mana reaction through [Search].
All the parts were made by other monsters, but there was no blood pa.s.sing through it.
A large magic formation was drawn on the chest and mana was overflowing from it giving instructions to each part and moved it. To put it briefly, it was a completely dead monster. It was a doll that only listened to instructions and that would be somewhat close to a golem.
By the way, Golem was made by a magic formation with rocks and sand as mediums, but this monster was a living golem with flesh as its medium.
In other words, it should not be a naturally occurring monster, but a synthetic monster made by someone"s hand.
It looked like a victim of vicious human experiments and that revived the memories in the previous life.
"Apparently, the cause of the hordes seems to be this monster. We need to defeat it quickly… uhm, what"s wrong?" (Fia)
"No, it"s nothing. Anyhow, it"s better to deal it that way." (Sirius)
"Well… that"s unfortunate. Wind, please!" (Fia)
As Fia explained, the cause of the fuss was surely this synthetic monster because the surroundings monster were frenzied when it loudly howled.
Fia, who could deal with the surrounding monsters while looking away, had to concentrate and unleashed spells now and she dedicated herself to blow away all other monsters.
"I can"t keep them too long!" (Fia)
"Yes, I will immediately finish it!" (Sirius)
I"d like to research it in various ways, but there was no way I could say that.
As I entrusted the surrounding monsters to Fia, I made a charge toward the synthetic monster.
Although the arms attached to the synthetic monster belong to Ogres, it was just a meat block. It didn"t feel tired or pain at all.
In order to defeat the incoming monster, it would probably difficult to wound countless swaying arms, but I could do anything to those mechanical movement without intelligence loaded in it.
"It"s too straightforward." (Sirius)
When I did a feint by slowing down on a step before reaching its bosom, it easily caught up.
All arms swung before I got to jump into its bosom. During a gap, I jumped in and put both hands in front of the magic formation which was the core of the synthetic monster…
"This is over…" (Sirius)
Both magic formation and the synthetic monster were blown away at the same time when I unleashed [Shotgun].
Since I couldn"t feel mana from the synthetic monster which had its magic formation shot through, I quickly escaped with Fia, and…
"There!" (Sirius)
At that moment… I felt a mana that was clearly different from that monster. So, I aimed at the high ground and intuitively shot [Magnum].
The other side was… a human.
As there was a great distance, my aim was slightly off and I seemed to hit the enemy"s arm.
"…Eiihh." (??)
I tried to unleashed another shot, but the other person muttered something and disappeared.
I tried to trace the reaction with [Search], but… the movement was abnormally fast. In addition, the enemy ran away into the forest, so it was impossible to shoot.
I could at least shoot if I flew in the sky, but… considering the situation here, it was better to give up than trying to follow that guy.
"Hey, Sirius! This may be a bit rough!" (Fia)
In the meantime, Fia was about to be overwhelmed by monsters.
She was good at killing down huge number of enemies, but judging damage to the surrounding and weak spells, the mana consumption was intense.
As Fia"s mana almost depleted, I picked the breathless FIa and held her. I ran towards the position of the subjugation groups while avoiding the monsters.
"Haa… that was a bit too much." (Fia)
"Sorry for having you doing this. But, it helped me." (Sirius)
"That"s good. So, where are we going?" (Fia)
"I will entrust you to Emilia and go to see Reus. Maybe over there has the monster like earlier." (Sirius)
I didn"t think Reus would be defeated, but it was also as for precaution.
Besides, I was concerned about the existence of this mystery.
The figure that I saw for a brief moment was a human… and it was a woman based on the physical characteristics. If that was the case, the mysterious woman who brainwashed Romanio n.o.ble was probably that person.
It was my a.s.sumption, but from the point that the reaction of mana which originated from the woman and the magic formation were similar, she probably the perpetrator who made the synthetic monster.
From the fact that she expressively appeared in the battlefield where the monster was there, there was no mistake that she wanted to watch her creation. It was a common behavior of mad scientist.
It was annoying because she managed to escape, but… I remembered her mana.
"Until we met again… Escapee-san." (Sirius)
—
"Welcome back, Sirius-sama. Fia-san." (Emilia)
Thereupon, I blended in to where the subjugation groups taking a break. I was able to join Emilia who was preparing to replace the vanguards personnel.
Since Reese was treating injured people in the vicinity, she was surprised to see Fia and me.
"Fia-san!? Are you hurt?" (Reese)
Ehe, I"m fine. I"m just overusing mana a bit." (Fia)
"That"s good. Sirius-san also… are you alright?" (Reese)
"Yes. I"m sorry but I will leave at once to see Reus" situation. You can ask Fia about the situation." (Sirius)
I tried to leave after entrusting Fia to Reese, but Emilia stood up in front of me and came out with a cup.
"Yeah, what is it?" (Sirius)
"Sirius-sama. Please rehydrate at least." (Emilia)
"…I guess so. Thanks, Emilia." (Sirius)
That reminded me, I sweat a lot because I ran around until just now. Although there was still plenty of room, negligence was forbid.
I stroked Emilia"s head while receiving it. I slowly drank it and returned the cup.
"Well then, I"m going." (Sirius)
"Please take care." (Emilia)
"Please take care of Reus and others." (Reese)
"Take care." (Fia)
As Emilia gave a beautiful bow while waving her tail, I started running again while looking at the smiling Fia and Reese who were sitting down.
—
After getting away from the subjugation groups, I jumped to the sky by kicking the air at a place where n.o.body could see me. I, then, crossed the Deine Lake.
I came to the battlefield with Hokuto"s mana as a landmark. He was sitting down on a hill and he was looking something below him.
"Phew… I made you wait, Hokuto. Reus" condition is…" (Sirius)
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
"Owaa!? What"s wrong, Hokuto? Why you suddenly jump?" (Sirius)
Although it was strange for Hokuto to be suddenly acting spoiled, but as far as I saw the situation, there seemed to be no problem for Reus.
When I looked down the hill and discovered their figures, Albert was setting up an impromptu small group, and they were running around the battlefield with Reus as the lead.
"…It seems they are splendidly fighting." (Sirius)
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
Although I was a bit worried about Reus" pacing and roughness, it seemed that there was no problem since Albert and Marina were properly a.s.sisting him.
I occasionally discovered some adventurers who were about to be killed by the monsters, so I covered them with [Snipe] while watching Reus, but… apparently, it was on this side as well.
"…It is there, huh. But, that person is…" (Sirius)
In the center of Romanio"s subjugation group, there was exactly the same rampaging existence as the synthetic monster that I knocked down.
As I expected, I couldn’t feel the reaction of that woman. Well, it could be said that was a matter of course since she got shot.
While I searched for that woman"s signature, the battle started when Reus collided against the synthetic monster.
Since there was no one with powerful long range attack in that group, the battle was inevitably became a close combat battle.
Because of that, that meatblock sent in blows at the attacking Reus from the front, Reus, who I trained together with Albert, made full use of Albert"s ability and handled the monster well.
Although it was a brief, I was honestly surprised that they could handle all six arms that were swung almost at the same time.
"…I probably can"t do that. If Jii-san sees him, he would be pleased." (Sirius)
Reus was driven into a corner for a bit, but with the cooperation of Albert and Wayne, he succeeded in defeating the synthetic monster.
I had nothing to say because he didn"t became careless as he incinerated the monster. By the way, I also told Fia to burn the synthetic monster if she found it.
I was prepared to [Snipe] at any time, but after confirming Reus who collapsed because he reached his limit, I slowly unfold my battle readiness.
The remaining monsters were good enough for the subjugation group, and Reus managed to rescue Albert.
"Has he finally reached that point…" (Sirius)
Although his mental experience was not enough yet, but Reus gained big in this situation.
If he grew up like this, someday… not just Lior, he would also surpa.s.s me.
So, when I explain the truth and he still wanted to follow me afterwards… let"s respond with all power.
"Welcome to the world of experts… Reus." (Sirius)
—
Extra/Bonus 1
[It seems that the Wind Spirits love my songs. Because of that, they seems to be more enthusiastic when I sing.] (Fia)
In other words, she was singing to unleash a large scale Spirit Magic.
Although it was such a beautiful song, what remains after the song ended… was a scene of destruction spread.
"…A song of destruction, huh?" (Sirius)
"Did you say something rude?" (Fia) ← with scornful eyes
"No, not really." (Sirius) ← expressionless
Extra/Bonus 2
The party of play-biting…starts!
"Anyhow, I have made a party of play-biting that will leave no scratches to Sirius-sama." (Emilia)
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
"Just a minute… I am not related, right? I"m not coming for a race who does it on regular basis, so…" (Reese)
"As a practice, I have made a small stuffed toy made from cloth. Well then, Reese will be the first to…" (Emilia)
"Haven"t I told you!? I"m not doing it! Rather than biting, the feeling of tasting the lips–… no, no, that"s wrong!" (Reese)
"It can"t be helped then. Next, I have prepared a life size doll made with special order materials. Hokuto-san, please be the role model." (Emilia)
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
"By the way, in order to increase the sense of realism, I put on Sirius-sama"s cloth, and his smell is soaked into because he had it as a holding pillow. The more you apply the pressure, the stronger the smell of Sirius-sama–…" (Emilia)
"Woof!" (Hokuto)
*snap*! *roll roll*…. (TLN: SFX) ← ※The neck was torn and the head was rolling.
"""…""" (Hokuto/Emilia/Reese)
"Emilia, where is my clothes… What is this!?" (Sirius)
The party of play-biting… dismiss.