940: Divine Sword Joint Request
「Now that we’ve finished introductions, I have a favor to ask of you, Fran.」
「A favor?」
「Yes. You see, a town to east of Nocta, Bultori, is under imminent danger from the antidemons.」
「According to the report from our scouts, a horde of more than 100,000 antidemons is expected to strike Bultori within the next few days.」
The antidemons were currently gathering in the surrounding region, and therefore expected to attack Bultori en ma.s.se after building up their forces a little longer.
「So it’s like Sendia?」
We wondered if someone was manipulating the hordes again, but that wasn’t the case.
「No. Unlike the Sendia incident, this seems to be a natural outbreak. While it certainly won’t be as dangerous as Sendia, Bultori is not a very large town to begin with. They will most definitely perish if we let this pa.s.s.」
「And that’s why we want you to go there and rescue them, along with our friends here.」
Whoa! To my surprise, they asked us to take on a joint request with several divine sword wielders. Uh, why did they even need Fran in the first place? There’s literally three divine swords here.
It seems this is where things got complicated. Izario may be an adventurer, but he was regarded as a legendary figure on this continent. If such an celebrity solves a problem by himself, it’s difficult for the Adventurers Guild to take credit.
That’s why they wanted an adventurer who was a little less well-known, yet not so weak as to be a hindrance. Such an adventurer would accompany Izario on this mission.
The intention was to spread the word about promising young adventurers, as well as informing everyone of their contributions. It kinda feels like we’re being used as a political p.a.w.n, but the rewards were generous. Not just antidemon points, but cold hard cash.
Above all, this was a once in a lifetime chance to see the divine sword wielders fight up close and personal. Fran would not pa.s.s up such an opportunity.
「Okay. I’ll take the request.」
She nodded immediately.
An hour later, after finis.h.i.+ng the request procedure at the Adventurers Guild, Fran stood at Nocta’s east gate.
Around us was a large group of adventurers waiting in standby. The guildmaster had forced Fran into the role of leading all these adventurers.
At first she refused, of course, but the only other high-ranking adventurer besides Fran was Diggins the bearkin. There’s no way he would accept taking command over Fran.
I thought Izario should be taking the role, but apparently, he came to Gordicia on the condition that he’s always allowed to work as a solo adventurer. Even if he’s considered a member of the guild, they weren’t able to force him into anything.
So in the end, Fran had no choice but to take over as leader. There were no other suitable candidates.
The other adventurers already knew about Fran, so there were few complaints. Those that did complain were quickly silenced by Diggins, the vice-captain, so we can safely say no one objected.
Fran was strangely motivated too, so I guess we really had no choice but to lead the adventurers.
「Those holy knights.」
『Yeah, they look more decent than I was expecting.』
Our relief effort for Bultori consisted of the adventurers, knights from the Holy Nation of Silard, soldiers from the Militant Nation of Hagane, and Izario.
Basically, the main players would be the two countries’ armies and Izario, while the adventurers acted as their backup. The important thing was that we fought on the same battlefield.
The hundred holy knights here looked quite normal compared to the ones we saw in Sendia. They organized themselves in a rigid formation and never spoke out of turn. For better or worse, they seemed like ordinary knights.
However, their combat ability was considerably lower than the ones at Sendia. Despite being sc.u.mbags, those guys might have been pretty high up in the ranks.
That said, I could tell they had similar personalities, since they clearly showed contempt for the adventurers. We should be grateful that we just have to act as backup, since I doubt we’d ever be able to cooperate with them.
Compared to the holy knights, Hagane’s soldiers seemed difficult to work with in a different way. They too were lined up neatly in rows without speaking a word. However, their burning enthusiasm was practically written on their faces.
Since they didn’t look down on adventurers, maybe we could call them better than the holy knights…… Still, you could practically feel the aura of “we’ll do it ourselves”. These old soldiers probably also felt they would be better off alone.
「How’s it going, little lady?」
「Izario, what’s that weird thing?」
「Weird? What a terrible thing to say. This here’s a magical tool, you know?」
Fran was referring to the board Izario carried on his back. Well, I’m sure she’s never seen anything like it before.
But I could easily imagine how the board was supposed to be used. The shape was familiar to me, from my memories of Earth, that is.
「It’s a magical tool for transportation, see? When you get on top of it and channel mana, it floats a little. You won’t be able to fly around freely, but it’s still pretty handy.」
「It floats?」
「Yeah. I’m getting old these days, so just a bit of running is enough to tire me out. This tool’s super useful.」
I don’t know how much he’s exaggerating, but as I expected, it’s a skateboard-like item. Rather than using wheels, it seems to levitate slightly off the ground. Guess it’s kinda like a hoverboard?
I’m sure any ordinary adventurer would love to have one of these. I can easily imagine them shouting about how awesome it is with a sparkle in their eyes.
However, Fran did not respond as Izario had expected.
「Hmm……」
「……That’s your reaction?」
「Nn?」
Fran had so many ways of flying, be it Telekinetic Air Ride, Aerial Hop, or riding Urus.h.i.+. To her, a magical tool capable of floating a little was not the least bit interesting.
Rather, the look on her face said, “Is that all you got?”
「Come on. This has been a big hit with the kids everywhere I go, you know? They all come running over and beg me for a ride.」
It seems this was Izario’s attempt to surprise the expressionless and untalkative Fran. He probably wanted to win her respect as well.
Now the fully grown man was sulking with his cheeks puffed out. Meanwhile, Fran decided to knock him down even further.
（Master.）
『You really want to show him?』
（He needs to know you are better than the board thing.）
『Well, fine I guess.』
「Nn. Izario, watch this.」
「Huh?」
Fran told Izario to watch as she threw me in the air. After I spun around a few times, Fran used aerial hop to follow me into the sky.
I activated my telekinesis the moment Fran put her feet on me in midair. Together, we dove swiftly back down to Izario, although I suppressed my speed quite a bit.
「Whoa! Your sword can fly?!」
「Heheh. Best sword ever.」
Izario reacted just like a kid when he saw Fran surfing through the air with Telekinetic Air Ride. However, his a.n.a.lytical skills proved very impressive.
「I see… Some sort of telekinesis applied for flight.」
He must have figured out the mechanism behind our Telekinetic Air Ride after seeing it once.
「Where did you even get the idea of flying on a sword? Dang geniuses.」
Izario’s whisper seemed to be filled with genuine envy.