Chapter 401

401 – A Certain Girl and the Royal Banquet 5 (side Miria)

The strange-faced soldiers have given up on attacking Volk-san normally, and have shifted to using their numbers to try to create an opening. Generally speaking, it’s the same tactic that humans use when to challenge much more powerful monsters.

“[Ooze Bomb]!”

One of the soldiers spits out a glob of its own goo from his mouth. Volk-san avoids the shot of goo with a splendid dodge.

“Cheh…!”

“I-I did it! It’s my achievement!”

But the one clicking his tongue is Volk-san. Behind him, the shot of goo explodes. Fumes rise from the ground as it melts. Spots of burnt-raw flesh appear on his back where it touches him.

His movements stop as his left leg becomes fixed in place. It looks like the ground and his boot have melted together and solidified. Apparently, this goo doesn’t only melt what it hits, but also quickly hardens it, fusing things together.

“Use [Ooze Bomb]! Kill him with [Ooze Bomb]! The health and magic cost is harsh, but the area of effect is wide, so even if he dodges we can destroy his footing!”

“More importantly, hit him now! He’s a big catch though! Definitely don’t kill him!”

Tentacle strikes are unleashed on Volk-san from every direction. For a moment, he seems to disappear, but then I realise that he had sprinted up to one of the defenceless soldiers and cut him in two.

“That’s ridiculous! He broke free of the [Ooze Bomb] weld so easily…!”

Volk-san lifts his leg. A section of the floor is stuck to the bottom of his bare foot. It seems that after his boot melted, the floor fused onto his bare foot, and so he tore a part of the floor out in order to move.

“He’s on a completely different scale…”

It’s no wonder he’s revered as the continent’s strongest. He’s putting up a good fight against an army of unidentified monsters, forcing back their advantage in numbers not with strategy, but with pure ability.

But as impressive as Dragon Hunter’s performance is, he’s clearly being worn down. His breathing is heavy, and he receives the occasional hit that he would have been able to dodge at the begining.

As for the old swordsman’s, Romrodon-san’s, trio, the apprentice and the monocled Bernard-san have already fallen and Romrodon-san is fighting alone. Romrodon-san’s expression is bitter. In contrast, the faint mouths of the soldiers are curled into easy smiles.

I need to think. No matter how I struggle, there’s no way I could defeat even one of the soldiers. But at this rate, both Meltia-san and I will die. There was something that caught my attention…

『About two seem like they could be useful. Also, isn’t that the sickly woman from yesterday. It looked like you got into a disagreement with the Three Knights, but well done in coming all the same.』

That was what Volk-san said. I thought the two that he was referring to were Romrodon-san and Bernard-san, But there’s a big difference in ability between the two of them.

As a result they lost their fight, and Romrodon-san has ended up struggling to survive against three at once. That is why, probably…from Volk-san’s perspective, the only one who passed was Romrodon-san.

By elimination, the other one must be the blond swordswoman who is surviving in a one-vs-one fight against a strange-faced soldier.

If she had the same strength as Romrodon-san, then she should easily be able to defeat one of them after her fight has lasted so long. I follow her with my eyes, and see that her movements really are strange. As I thought, she’s holding back. She’s avoiding taking any fatal wounds, but also avoiding dealing any fatal wounds.

Is she on their side and is only pretending to fight? No, there should be no need for that. If she was on the side of the fake princess, then there would be no need to pretend, she could just wait for all to be wiped out. We’d all be defeated soon enough anyway. There would be no point in splitting their forces in order to just have a pretend fight.

The most likely explanation is that she’s just having a perfunctory exchange of blows in order to avoid attracting their attention. Is she looking for an opportunity to flee? But the castle is big. There are soldiers standing guard over the exits, and more importantly, the longer she takes, the sooner enemy reinforcements will arrive.

If it’s not that, then… Is there a third force at play that has completely different intentions from us? Was my assumption that it’ll be bad if this fight draws out mistaken?

Does she perhaps know that, if the battle is prolonged, something will happen other than the enemy receiving reinforcements? If that’s the case, then it’s clear that she doesn’t want to reveal it, even if it results on casualties on our side.

“U-umm… Volk-san, Romrodon-san! If you can fight a bit longer, the situation might change!”

I shout as loud as I can.

Volk-san seems annoyed, but Romrodon-san looks at me in wonder.

Then, the robed swordswoman glares at me with eyes wide open. That expression… Was I correct? I’m not certain, but I have no choice but to bet on this.

If my theory is correct, then there would be no point in trying to defeat the enemies as fast as possible in order to escape. After some time passes, the situation should change and an opportunity should arrive.

“Also! That person is holding back!”

The woman glares at me with dreadful anger. I look down to avert my eyes… It’s fine if I’m correct, but if I’m wrong, then I’ll probably be resented for not just one lifetime, but ten. I’m in the position of only being alive thanks to Volk-san keeping their attention away from me. She must think I’m a hypocrite for accusing her of holding back.

The completely exhausted Romrodon-san begins to move towards the swordswoman to try and drag her into his fight.

“G-go away!”

“The life of my pupil and the fate of the country are at stake! I saw that your fighting style seemed a little odd, so I wondered if it might be the case. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you escape alone!”

Perhaps confused by our words, the movements of the soldiers become slightly disordered.

“[Shockwave]!”

Aiming for that opening, Volk-san mercilessly swings his sword. The ground splits apart, and the soldier directly in front of him bursts into pieces. The soldiers’ positioning falls apart, their formation becoming disorganised.

With Volk-san’s encirclement broken, he runs around the hall freely. One of the slimes is hit by the Dragon Hunter’s greatsword five times in quick succession, vaporising into a pool of green liquid. Probably, it was already dead after the second hit.

The fewer strange-faced soldiers there are, the more leeway Volk-san can fight with. Probably, he now has a slight advantage over them. While moving to try and force the blond swordswoman to get more involved, Romrodon-san strikes at the soldiers at each opportunity, attracting their attention.

From the current situation, it looks like we should be able to last. But what will happen next is nothing more than a bet. The battle carries on.

While I’m watching the battle from a corner of the room with Meltia-san, the door opposite me bursts opens and another twenty strange-faced soldiers enter in.

“What are you doing? Don’t hasten the party!”

“We were told to be careful of the Saint who’s entered the country, and yet…!”

“Even if they made the first move, when you have this many soldiers, why have you still not suppressed them?”

The angry voices of the soldiers mingle together.

“A-ahh…”

It’s over. I lost the bet. In the current situation, it’s only a matter of time before everyone’s killed. Doing anything more is impossible. Somehow, the forces miraculously seemed balanced, so it had felt like we might have a slim chance of survival. And yet, all of a sudden, the enemies’ strength has more than doubled.

“You’re only a small fry, so princess-sama won’t complain. Your experience and skills will be worthless anyway. Every time, one or two people like you get mixed in. You don’t even have value as food.”

Perhaps seeing that he now has the leeway, one of the strange-faced soldiers raises his weapon overhead and walks towards me. After glancing at the fallen Meltia-san beside me, I resolve myself and stand up.

“You can’t be doing that. That’s princess-sama’s prey.”

“Gah!”

A man swiftly chases after the strange-faced soldier and grabs his neck from behind. A black liquid spreads throughout his body from the neck, which then disintegrates away, leaving only the armour and sword.

“We meet again. This time, would you mind not giving me such a cold shoulder?”

The person who appeared is the one who called out to me before, one of the princess’s Three Knights, 『Death Sword Thermal』.