Manowa

Chapter 194 - Let"s Save the City

Kazane battled with Angus after that, and it was certainly much more of a match than at the beginning, but Kazane wasn"t able to damage Angus .

The omnidirectional Material Shield was powerful . The shield activated the moment Kazane thought of using it . The Material Shield was also troublesome when it was used by the Minotaur in Rock Hold Cave, but it was an extremely fantastic defense for Kazane, since she had the intellect to use it effectively and had a small and maneuverable body . Because of that, Angus also wasn"t able to attack unilaterally .

Also, due to『Intuition』she was able to find the right timings to use Air Jump to rush forward in close combat, but it seemed there were also many misfires due to her lack of experience, and she wasn"t able to land a deciding blow .

The opposing Angus had lifted the ban on using his tonfas . It seemed kicking being his main form of attack was unchanged, but his movements were compact, and he truly had no gaps in his defense .

All of Kazane"s kicks were dealt with by the tonfas . Not through force; the tonfas would be rotated to parry her attacks, and Kazane would use Material Shield to prevent counterattacks . That give and take repeated for a while .

But in the end, Angus won due to Kazane"s mistake . Such battles were endlessly repeated until the night grew late .

◎ Param City, In Front of Senure Hotel, the Next Morning

「Aniki, that tonfa . It"s a deadly weapon that struck a child . 」

「It smells of a crime . This is bad . We should burn the evidence . 」

It was unclear why his follower wanted to burn his tonfa so badly, but Angus and his followers decided to return to Dongol City the day after the battle with Kazane and were leaving the hotel . Kazane and Jinrai went to see them off, and Angus handed a certain thing to Kazane .

「All right . You should read this tonfa primer I specially made to train further . 」

The t.i.tle written on the book was Introduction to Tonfas . When Kazane accepted it, she opened it to look inside, and while the drawn figures were always holding tonfas, it was a kicking technique textbook .  

「Volume one is written here, though?」

「This is just between you and me, but the last volume has tonfa techniques written inside . It"s secret . 」

Angus whispered .

「I"ll give you the last volume once you master that first volume . You seem like someone who could become my rival . 」

「Rival!?」

Kazane was deeply moved for a moment by the sweetness of that word, but she immediately returned to sanity and grumbled「No, being this old man"s rival is . . . . . . 」while Angus said bye and immediately left with his followers .

「As always, they"re a noisy group . 」

「Well, that"s fine, though . 」

Kazane waved her hand at the leaving Angus and followers as she looked at the textbook and broke into a grin .

As a matter of fact, Kazane had discovered her Skills had increased by one after yesterday"s battle with Angus . The name was『Kick Devil』 . Kazane didn"t remember defeating any particular monsters, so she judged that this was probably her Unique Skill . Why it was appearing now was unclear, but Kazane thought it might be because she had clearly chosen kicking as her main attack this time . Her thinking was: it had simply been one means of fighting up until now, but doesn"t this mean it"s finally considered my main attack?

( . . . . . . I might not be able to call myself a Magic Swordswoman anymore)

A resigned smile was born . When she thought so, the young girl felt like she was one step closer to becoming an adult . And no voice from heaven came to tell her not to give up yet .

「Are you going to train with us?」

Kazane answered「Yeah」after Jinrai"s words .

Kazane had considered it mostly unnecessary, since her physical ability was strengthened thanks to leveling up, but what she had obtained this time was probably a Unique Skill . Based on Yumika, it looked like its potential was far higher than Skills obtained from monsters . There were also many things to learn from the textbook, so she thought focusing on that for a while might be best .

And after seeing off Angus" group, Kazane and Jinrai gathered their other companions to check out of the hotel, then went to Param City"s Adventurers Guild office . Benzel had continually collected information yesterday and should be waiting for them there .

◎ Param City, Adventurers Guild Office

When Kazane and the others arrived at the Adventurers Guild office and went inside, Benzel and the guild personnel inside had grave expressions .

「Good morning, Benzel-san . What"s wrong?」

Kazane sensed that it wasn"t a trivial matter and asked Benzel at the same time as her greeting .

「Kazane-san, everyone . Umm . Deidona City is currently under attack . 」

Benzel"s face was pale . The Communication Bulletin Board was at the center of the crowded guild employees, and everyone was intently watching the letters written there . It seemed like it was a considerably serious situation .

「What"s attacking?」

Benzel replied「It"s Dragon Bears」after Jinrai"s question .

「Dragon Bears?」

After Kazane"s question, Naoki beside her decided to explain . Naoki was knowledgeable about the monsters within Hyvern, and he had actually defeated a Dragon Bear before . So he naturally knew about that monster .

「Even for Hyvern it"s a troublesome type of monster .   It might be an evolution caused by a bear eating a dragon long ago, but while it certainly looks like a bear, its whole body is covered in scales and it can breathe fire . 」

「That"s scary . 」

Kazane tried imagining its appearance, but she couldn"t call to mind the appearance of a bear that wasn"t covered in hair .

「It"s practically a bear-shaped dragon, isn"t it . 」

Emily"s expression was also slightly stiff . It seemed she perceived them as quite formidable .

「It seems there are around 400 Dragon Bears attacking Deidona City right now . The city is protected by a stone wall, but it"s written on the Communication Bulletin Board that it being broken through is only a matter of time . 」

Everyone"s faces stiffened after Benzel"s words . What was that number . It was easy to imagine that the city would be annihilated if the wall was broken through . But that wasn"t the only problem .

「Moreover, the situation somewhat resembles Minshiana . 」

「What do you mean?」

Benzel opened his mouth after Kazane"s question . It was the information about Minshiana he had been collecting since yesterday .

「A swarm of Ogres attacked Mishiana"s Capital City Shubain, but according to the follow-up, it seems Minshiana"s army was successful in safely subjugating the Ogres . Well, that country has a Guardian Armament like our country, after all . 」

(Guardian Armament?)

That was an unfamiliar word to Kazane, but there was no explanation .

「Monsters don"t normally suddenly attack in such numbers . That doesn"t mean it never happens, but there are still signs . But in Minshiana, and now with Deidona, there were none . 」

「That is to say, you think they both have the same cause . 」

Benzel nodded after Louise"s question .

「If Mishiana"s Ogre horde was due to a devil, then it"s possibly the case again . And you know the aim, right?」

Benzel"s gaze turned to Kazane, who nodded . Of course, everything was speculation . But that didn"t mean they could cast it aside . In other words, he was saying a city might disappear because of them .

「And if things stay as they are now, Deidona City will be destroyed . There are around 500 soldiers in that town . And there are no more than 100 rank C or higher adventurers . 」

「They"ll be easily routed, then . 」

Jinrai replied calmly . Dragon Bears were considered more formidable monsters than Ogres . Around 10 average soldiers would be needed to oppose one .

「Nearby adventurers and dukedom soldiers are gathering, but there simply isn"t enough time to prepare the soldiers and head for the city . It will probably be a cleanup battle after the city has been completely trampled . 」

And after speaking to that extent, Benzel resolved himself and looked at Kazane and the others .

「But here, right now, we have the fighting power to do something about it . 」

Benzel knew about『Crawling Lightning』 . He had heard about about the Stone Minotaur . He had seen them defeat a hundred Kobolds alone .

「It"s possible the devil is luring us, isn"t it?」

Louise said after Benzel"s words .

「Saying we should head toward such an outrageous numbers would be brazen enough under normal circ.u.mstances, and this might be a trap; isn"t what you"re saying too absurd?」

She spoke with a smile . But her eyes were filled with anger . They were asking if he knew how absolutely absurd his request was . But Benzel did know .

「I know . But there"s no way I can abandon Deidona City and not go . 」

Benzel directly glared back at Louise . As a Guildmaster, he couldn"t back down here . Seeing his eyes, Louise smiled . The hue of false anger from just before disappeared, and she regretted her little test . The man in front of them was resolved to die . Louise thought he grew up to be a pa.s.sable man, then with a nod, she turned to the girl behind her .

「You heard him . Leader?」

「In short, it"ll be fine if we rout those bear-sans, isn"t that right?」

Kazane clearly announced at Louise"s gaze . The people behind Kazane had various reactions: thinking it was natural and nodding, anxious expressions, forced smiles that said they thought it couldn"t be helped . Kazane looked around at them, nodded, then clenched her fist and raised it .

「It"ll be fine . We can do it . 」

Her companions hardened their resolved at seeing Kazane"s smile . The girl"s words were persuasive enough to make them feel the same . And the White Party decided to go to Deidona City .

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 31

Health: 114

Magic Power: 205+420

Strength: 55+10

Agility: 48+4

Endurance: 31

Wisdom : 62

Dexterity : 39

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog’s Sense of Smell』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』

Yumika:「Kick Devil . Is that something like my Innate Talent: Spear?」

Kazane:「The detailed explanation will come a bit later . 」