Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Rox kingdom’s Knight, Renber

「I'll leave it to you then, lord Renber」

I bowed deeply after hearing the words of the king a while ago.

I'm a knight of the Rox kingdom. Hence, I have to follow the king’s order.

By no means, it was a gloomy order.

I walked along the street after leaving the castle. The street is bustling with life despite the dark sky.

Maybe everyone is busy since they're preparing for the festival that will start tomorrow.

But, I don't think that this festival will be a good thing.

After walking for a while, I finally arrive at the store which was my destination.

It's a bar and dining store called 「White Scale Restaurant」. The one I'm looking for is there.

I went into the store. On entering the store, I can see many customers since it's dinner time.

This White Scale restaurant is quite special within the Rox kingdom. If one were to ask the reason, it's because the guests who come to the store are rather abnormal.

Almost all of the guests in this store are armed.

Demons are overflowing outside the city rampart, and many coming from the outside will at least have an edged tool with them, even if they're just normal individuals. In the end, it's just for safety when demons come out. Guests of this store are unlike normal travelers who keep regular weapons; they have their shield or armor which is nothing but the minimum requirement they need.

Still, they have toned muscles that are incomparable to those who live a normal life; they are the people who display their worth in a battle.

Freedom fighters.

That's what people call them.

If knights were the kingdom officials, they're what you call as the private army. The defense of highways that connect between countries are extremely important matter to all countries. The knights are responsible for exterminating the demons appearing on the highway.

But, the reality is that a knight, whose jurisdiction is limited by the so-called country, can't protect the peace of the highway by himself.

For example, if the diplomatic relationships with other nations became tensed, it'll cause economic problems.

In that case, people cannot be stopped from crossing the national border, and it is a difficult situation for the country to fulfill all demands needed while crossing borders.

That's why the need for freedom fighters arose. They can act with more flexibility compared to the knights. Basically, the knights can't sortie without the order of the king, but freedom fighters didn’t fall under that category. They hear the requests of the other citizens, and they decide to act as fast as possible if they deem that it's necessary. Knights can't take actions without orders, and they only need to abide by their own country’s orders; freedom fighters would protect the other country as long as they determine it to be necessary.

And this White Scale restaurant is the gathering place for those freedom fighters. The people who have a request for the freedom fighters in the Rox kingdom normally come to this store.

Right now, almost all of the freedom fighters gathered in this place are those who have come due to the commission from the Rox kingdom.

the Rox kingdom has been performing a major cleanup operation against the demons in the vicinity of the city since three days ago for the sake of tomorrow’s festival. The cleanup work had also ended today. Thanks to them, the people arriving at the Rox kingdom don’t need to fear the demons for a while. The freedom fighters have gathered together in this shop after finishing their job.

I look for someone as I walk inside the shop. I could easily find the one I'm looking for.

At any rate, that man is huge with his outer appearance completely resembling a bear. His presence stands out in spite of being seated in the inner part of the store.

His back is facing my direction. So, I approach that man.

His age is just below thirty; he has a sunburnt face along with numerous scars carved on his muscle which definitely distinguish him from normal people.

Maybe because he noticed me approaching him, the man turned around.

「Yo~, isn't it Renber? You're as gloomy as ever, huh」

「And you're as amazing as ever Gallios-senpai! Is your injury from yesterday already alright？ 」

「Yeah, more or less. I can move after being healed by healing magic from Nimri-sensei」

Gallios grinned from ear to ear.

It seems that he couldn't resist it even though he was about to die. Could it be that people who become freedom fighters are actually not afraid of death？

Gallios is a freedom fighter who lives in this the Rox kingdom. He's a former knight and also my senior. He almost died during the demon extermination yesterday.

I approach the table and sit next to Gallios.

There, I suddenly noticed that someone has been sitting in front of Gallios for a while.

His frame is feeble when compared to Gallios with a huge body frame.

I failed to notice his presence when I came due to Gallios’s overwhelming figure.

「So you came along too, huh. Good day, Kuro-dono」

I nodded at him.

And then, I looked at Kuro. He is a mysterious youth with a strange atmosphere that I never saw in this neighborhood.

He has an extremely handsome face accompanied by his jet-black hair that would mix well with darkness. Those young girls won't leave him alone as long as he dresses well.

But then, it seems that this youth is the quiet type.

I just happened to want to express my gratitude to Kuro for today’s matter. He has suitably appeared along with Gallios.

「Good day, Renber-dono」

Kuro also nods back while looking at me.

Kuro isn't the same as the freedom fighters in this store.

It's about the matter when I met with Kuro yesterday evening.

I heard from my sister, Gallios’s wife, that Gallios who left for demon extermination yesterday evening won't be coming back.

There're a lot of demons in the night. Moreover, humans who couldn’t see at night are as good as dead if they meet a demon outside the rampart. It's the same even for a skilled soldier.

When I was hesitating whether I should search for Gallios or not, Kuro appeared with Gallios being carried by his shoulder.

It seems that around noon yesterday, Gallios received injury on his legs and fell from a small cliff after losing a fight against a goblin and an orc.

Though he managed to climb back, he became gloomy once he found out that he couldn’t move his legs. There, he met Kuro by chance who happened to pass that place.

My sister was extremely delighted after seeing Gallios safe and sound.

Just like that, Gallios was carried by Kuro to Nimuri-sensei who can use healing magic for treatment.

Kuro’s body is the slender type. It’s definitely not the type of body which that could carry Gallios, the man with a gigantic build that’s probably the biggest in the kingdom, on his shoulder while traversing the forest road with almost non-existent trails. According to the story from Gallios, they neither met with any accident nor lost their way while walking in the dark forest in the evening.

According to Nimuri-sensei, Kuro may be capable of using night vision magic. In short, this youth called Kuro might be a magician.

When I think of it from this perspective, I could accept the fact that he can walk in the forest while carrying Gallios with a much bigger build than me. Maybe he was using some kind of mysterious magic to carry Gallios.

The existence of a magician is precious. If Kuro is a magician, I definitely want him to reside in this kingdom by all means. Currently, the only one who can be considered a magician in this kingdom is Nimuri-sensei. Though the female doctor who settled in this city two weeks ago seems to be able to use a bit of magic, it seems that her ability isn't enough to be termed as a magician.

Gallios couple is the one who will be taking care of Kuro, their savior, during his stay in this kingdom.

Since Kuro didn’t fuss about luxury, it's pretty easy to take care of him. No, from what I could see, Kuro preferred simplicity. Even now, the two of them just ate common food. In contrast to Gallios who drinks ale, Kuro has chosen the herb tea. When the Gallios couple tried to give him liquor to show their gratitude for saving Gallios’ life, it seemed he didn’t want to drink it since he is still a misenen. [TL: I'll leave "Misenen" untranslated for later chapters]

Though I didn’t know what this misenen thing is, could it be that it is something like discipline to him？.

He behaved like those ascetic monks.

When I think about it, there's no gap even in the way he walks, maybe he is in pursuit of something.

On this noon, Kuro tagged along with the other freedom fighters to exterminate the demons. I, who also participated in it as the knight of the kingdom, realized that Kuro’s battle style was splendid. It never came to me that he could fight by only using a small sword. Even if, for example, he used magic, I don't think he could make that kind of maneuvers. From the way he carried himself, maybe he learned martial arts from somewhere.

Not greedy, can use magic, and also a combat expert, I could say that he is the most suitable person for the current duty.

「By the way, what is the matter that brought you here now, Renber？ You're currently not off duty, right?」

Gallios asked about my business.

Though the maintenance of the public order inside the rampart is managed by the palace soldiers, if necessary, some knights may end up guarding the palace. Strictly speaking, I should be in the palace right now.

「In fact, there’s something that I want to ask to you, Gallios-senpai…」

Thus, I tell him the reason why I came here.

「Hou, from your face, it doesn't seem to be a trivial matter. Fine then, I'll inform everyone about it」

Thereupon, Kuro stood from his seat.

「If it's such a complicated matter, shall I leave for the time being？ 」

Kuro is being tactful in consideration for us.

「No, this is something that I wished to ask to Kuro-dono, too….」

「Me too？ 」

「Yes, Kuro-dono」

After I say so, Kuro sits down on his seat again.

Kuro is displaying a curious face.

But, I continue talking without minding it.

「I want to ask you to become a certain person’s bodyguard」

「Bodyguard？」

「Yes, those certain people suddenly decided to come to this kingdom. And I received an order from His Majesty to become their bodyguard, but I feel anxious for doing it alone. That's why I want to borrow senpai’s power」

「Certain people？ Somebody like royalty of a different kingdom？ 」

I shake my head in denial after hearing what Gallios said. When I think about the people who will come in the future, they're more than just another kingdom’s royalty.

「No, they're not, but comparable to that」

「Huhm. Who is it, then？ 」

Gallios is asking with a puzzled tone.

「To be honest, the one who will come tomorrow is the hero, Reiji-sama, and his wives… Eh, what's the matter, Kuro-dono！ ？ 」

Suddenly, Kuro spurts out the tea in his mouth.

The spurted tea sprayed right on Gallios’s face.

「I… I'm sorry Gallios-dono….」

Kuro apologized to Gallios.

「No, it's okay, but… What's the matter, Kuro-dono」

Gallios and I are surprised to see Kuro’s behavior. Kuro’s current state isn't normal.

「It's nothing, I just choked… My apologies… Please continue the story」

Kuro apologizes while coughing lightly.

「Yeah, back to the story, why did the hero come to this place? Is he going to sightsee the festival that starts tomorrow？ 」

Gallios asks that question while wiping his face with a cloth.

「It seems that is the reason, but… Gallios-senpai. You know about the hero Reiji-sama’s injury, right？ 」

「Yeah, he was defeated by an extremely powerful dark knight. I thought that no one but a god could injure that hero, but the world is vast, huh」

「I did think so, too. Thereupon, Reiji-sama will be coming to bath in the hot spring in this the Rox kingdom to heal the wounds inflicted by the dark knight」

This the Rox kingdom is famous for its hot spring. The main source of income for this kingdom is that hot spring.

「Thus, I request the two of you to become bodyguards for the hero」

I look at their expression.

Gallios and Kuro had complicated expressions.

「Uhm, Renber-dono. Why do we need to protect them？ Rei… I mean the hero-sama-tachi are already extremely powerful」

It seems Kuro also knows the matter about hero-sama, so it’s natural for him to be aware of how powerful the hero is. In the first place, finding someone who doesn't know about the hero is a difficult task.

「Certainly, your question is natural… Save for those gods, the only one who can harm hero-sama-tachi might be just that dark knight, right?」

「Then why？ 」

「In fact, you'll be bodyguards in name only; your actual job is to keep those guys with strange thoughts toward the hero’s wives away, you know…」

All women on hero Reiji’s side are beauties. Thus, someone with strange thoughts might appear again.

There was a great disturbance when a guy who tried to do something strange appeared during the hero’s previous visit.

「I cannot let them displease hero-sama-tachi. I can't let the rampart to become wrecked even further, you know…」

I convey my real intentions.

「I see」

「No, somehow, I can understand your reason…」

Gallios nodded his head. It seems Kuro’s also guessing something.

The west side of the Rox kingdom rampart is currently in a half-destroyed state.

The cause is an extremely powerful offensive magic.

In the first place, this is the second time the hero's party is coming to this kingdom.

Since there was a fool who tried to mess with those girls when they came to this kingdom before, the angry girl destroyed the rampart with magic.

I happened to hear that the hero's party also caused a similar incident in the capital of Holy Republic Lenaria. It seems Rena temple always assigned a convoy whenever the hero's party takes a stroll in the city.

That's why, to prevent similar accidents like the last time, our kingdom also decided to assign a convoy to the hero's party. The one in charge of that is me.

A big country like Holy republic Lenaria can assign any number of guards, but our the Rox kingdom knights number no more than 20. When considering about the need for maintenance of public order for the festival that will begin tomorrow and the usual defense of the highway, that number can't be avoided. It won’t be bad if normal people were drafted to work around that area, but they're not skilled enough. So, we had to recruit as many skilled individuals as possible.

Thus, we decided to recruit skilled freedom fighters as their convoy.

The criteria for selection is someone who won't cause unpleasant feelings even when looking at the hero's woman and isn’t hostile toward the hero.

Gallios is someone who I can trust after long years of association, and even if I only know Kuro for a while, he is skilled; moreover, he is calm, and I can't see him as someone hostile toward the hero. The most important point is that I can't see him as someone who will cause unpleasant feelings with his harmless appearance.

That's why I want to employ their help no matter what.

「That's why, please. Will you help me with this job？ 」

I bow to them.

「I'm not in the mood to do it….」

Gallios is saying so as he continued.

「In the first place, I don't think that I'm suitable for the job if the other party is a noble」

Gallios has the same attitude toward anyone. He spoke with the same tone irrespective of whether it was toward me or royalty of another country. Though the king of Rox didn’t mind about his attitude, it's might be considered a rude action toward the other country.

If we were unlucky, we might anger the hero.

「No, no need to worry about such things since the one to accompany them is Almi… Is the princess. We're going to escort them from a secret place so no suspicious persons will approach them」

I tell him about my plan.

「Princess, are you talking about Almina？ 」

I nod to the question from Gallios. Almina, who will turn 17 this year, is the youngest princess of the Rox kingdom.

On hearing that the hero is soft toward girls and since it won't cause any unpleasant feelings to the hero's women if a woman was to accompany them, adding to her perfect manner, it was decided that the princess will accompany the hero.

「I see, both the future husband and wife will accompany the hero, huh」

Gallios said with a wide grin on his face.

「Please don't tease me with that, senpai」

It's a fact that princess Almina is my childhood friend and also my fiancee.

「It's a good thing for you and princess Almina. I'll lend a hand if weren’t for accompanying the hero」

Gallios is laughing with "GAHAHA". Then, he glanced at Kuro.

「What about you, Kuro？ 」

To be honest, Kuro seemed unwilling to do this job.

But, Kuro, who can use magic, will become a great help in this case.

「Please help me with this job, Kuro-dono！ ！ 」

I bow toward Kuro.

「Well, I think it's okay as long as it is not directly accompanying the hero…」

Kuro unwillingly accepted my request.

Thus, I gained their cooperation.

And the matter regarding the hero’s also settled for now.

Somehow, I have a bad premonition about this sudden visit of the hero.

◆Dark Knight Kuroki

I think that it's quite strange.

I never thought that I, who was summoned to beat the hero, will one day become his escort.

I accepted Renber’s request because it seems that it’s an important matter for him and because I consider him as one of my friends outside Nargol.

From Renber’s story, it's not like I’m going to meet them directly, so I think it's okay since it just involves escorting them from a relatively isolated place.

As for why I came to the vicinity of the Rox kingdom, it's to gather the ingredients to create a goddess.

I recalled the conversation I had with Modes before I come to this place.

「I need a dragon horn. Moreover, we can't make a goddess unless the horn is from a dragon king」

Modes told me that when I asked for my compensation.

Surely, it's not like I will receive my compensation in an instant.

But, it seems that special ingredients are needed to create a goddess, and it seems that we can't make a goddess unless we use those ingredients.

I was told that a dragon, hailed as the holy dragon king of silver, is living in the vicinities of this the Rox kingdom, and we definitely can make a goddess by using that dragon king’s horn. By the way, it seems that Mona is made by using the horn of the dragon king that was hailed as the demon dragon king of lustrous black. Maybe that's the reason for Mona’s beautiful black-colored hair that’s different from Rena.

Nevertheless, the matter of acquiring the horn of a dragon king is a highly difficult subject, right？

When I researched about it, the dragons hailed as dragon kings are considered terribly strong. I don't think that acquiring the dragon horn will be an easy matter for me.

It is as if I've completely become an errand child for Modes.

Or else, it’s maybe because he judged that it'll be an easy matter for the powerful me.

Moreover, I didn't want to hurt a dragon just for my own desire.

It'll make me remember Glorious.

Thus, I rode on Glorious all the way till this the Rox kingdom. Though I heard that the people without permission will be chased around by the holy knights of Elios, those holy knights were already annihilated by me.

To be honest, I'm reflecting on my actions that went overboard. That evening, I lost my temper, so I just crushed everyone who came toward me without thinking much about it. Before I noticed, it seems that I had already annihilated the holy knights. On hearing about their annihilation, I still wonder how much damage I caused to them. I can't confirm it even now.

Well, since there are no holy knights, it's mean that I can ride on Glorious.

Compared to Nargol, the majority of the expanse of the skies of this world is beautiful with a perfectly clear blue sky like the one from my world.

The matter of riding on the back of a dragon while flying under the blue sky was truly wonderful.

Though I can fly with flight magic, flying on the back of a dragon feels much better.

I definitely won't be able to forgive anyone who wants to take the horn of Glorious, since he made me feel the wonder of flying under the sky.

That's why I couldn't get excited with the matter of killing off the dragon king who’s similar to Glorious.

Moreover, the reason why I came to this place is because I have nothing to do.

I thought it's better to have something to do than nothing; thus, I traveled on Glorious all the way till here. By the way, Nut isn't with me right now.

I first arrived at a certain tower in the forest, since I can't enter the city with Glorious in tow.

It seems it is an abandoned tower with no life. The hollow on top of the tower is the most suitable place to hide Glorious.

I came to see the situation a while ago, but it seems that Glorious liked that place.

According to Ruugas, it seems that dragons will eat when it's the time to eat and eat nothing when it isn’t the time. It seems that Glorious is currently not in eating mode.

I immerse myself till my shoulders while thinking about those things.

Currently, I'm inside the public hot spring in the Rox kingdom.

The other guests are also bathing along with me.

Though I'm still reluctant about the matter of acquiring the horn, I'm extremely grateful for the existence of this hot spring. I think it's worthwhile to come to this place just for this alone.

The hot spring established by the Rox kingdom wasn’t built in an elaborate manner; it just contained a rock bath.

There's a liquid foam made from the oil of a certain plant, and they even have sauna-like rooms – complete with the equipment. While immersing myself in the hot spring, I recall about Japan.

Not even one month has passed since then, but I'm already feeling homesick.

I wonder if everyone is alright？

Can we go back safely？

My head is filled with nothing but such thoughts. It seems that I've soaked a bit too long in the hot spring.

「Ooi Kuro, going up already？ 」

Gallios inquires me about my action.

I look at Galios. He's a hairy man. There are scars all over his body, and those scars are the testament of his way of life.

I met Gallios yesterday night.

I found Gallios with wounded legs when I was wandering in the forest for food. [TL: Poor Kuroki]

Unfortunately, the healing spell that I can use is the type of healing that can be used on no one but me. That's why I couldn't heal Gallios. Thus, I carried Gallios on my back all the way to the Rox kingdom.

Nevertheless, it turned out that Gallios is quite a famous figure even in the Rox kingdom. Even the gatekeeper of the rampart simply let me through when they saw Gallios on my back. It's hard to believe that they kept refusing me at the door until now.

In fact, this is the first time I entered the rampart from the front gate.

However, the Rox kingdom provided more freedom for people to go in and out as long as they won’t commit crimes.

It seems that there are a different means to enter each country: there's a country which will allow you to enter as long as you pay money, there's also a country which won't allow you to enter if you're not their citizen or a citizen of their allies.

And speaking of money, different from my last journey, I'm bringing money for my use it in human society.

Thus, the problem of money that was present during the visit to Holy Republic Lenaria was solved in a jiffy.

That is not because I understood the method to exchange available gems for money.

It's good as long as I can make some money – the so-called private mint. [TL: Producing money on your own<— WARNING!!! THIS IS ILLEGAL SO DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!]

To put it simply, the circulation of money around this area uses currency issued by the Holy Republic Lenaria.

But, it isn't like the Holy republic Lenaria is the only one who has the right to issue currency. Every country has the right to manufacture currency, so it's not too hard to make money in private. The problem is whether the one that I made can pass the inspection or not.

There's metal that resembled copper, silver, and gold even in this world; the diameter of the coin is around 2~3 cm, whether they were copper coins, silver coins, or gold coins.

There's a high possibility that my self-minted money can pass as normal gold coin as long as I use the gold coin issued by the Holy Republic Lenaria as the standard. [TL: WARNING!!! THIS IS ILLEGAL!!!]

In short, to make my own money, I just need to acquire metals such as copper, silver, and gold as much as I want.

Naturally, there are also the people who make poor quality currency such as the yen coin which is made by mixing metal amongst them.

Nargol doesn’t collect gold or silver and just mines a bit of copper. From there, I'm mass producing copper coins based on the sample coin that I got from Holy Republic Lenaria. Even if it's self-made, I think they came out rather nicely.

When I showed this copper coin in Gallios’s place, it seems that it can be used normally in the Rox kingdom.

In the first place, it seemed it would’ve been better even if I didn’t mint these coins for use in the Rox kingdom.

This is because Gallios would take care of my living as long as I remain in the Rox kingdom to express his gratitude for saving his life.

Today, he brought me to this hot spring establishment. Naturally, he paid the entrance fee, too.

I think he doesn't need to go to that extent. I feel a bit sorry in that regard.

「Yeah, shall we leave now?」

I stand upon hearing Gallios words.

Gallios line of sight is looking at my lower body.

「To think that you possess such a fiendish thing that’s unsuited to your face. And that's when it's not in a fired up state, huh」

Gallios teased me.

「W-Where are you looking at！ ！ 」

I cover my little bro.

I was teased a lot in a similar manner back in my world. In fact, having such fiendish little bro isn't always a good thing. Rather, I have suffered several hardships due to it.

「Oi oi, no need to be shy about it. If it's at your size, no matter what kind of woman you face, you can satisfy them. So, how many women have cried because of your little monster？ 」

Gallios’s wide smile remained plastered on his face.

「No, I… have never gone out with a woman before」

I said with a crestfallen voice.

No matter how big the size is, it's useless if I have no one to use it against. So, no matter how big it is, it's just a useless piece of junk.

「No matter how big your size is, if you have no one to use it….(cry)」

I wanted to cry.

To be honest, it's not that I never got close to a woman. My female acquaintances are almost 0.

Shirone, the one closest to me, is one of Reiji’s women. It doesn't seem that the time for me to use it will come anywhere in the near future since I can't even have a proper conversation with a woman.

Though my master often teased me with the 「Your wife will have hard future, huh」, I'm crying now since that future might not be possible anymore.

「No… Sorry for bringing out that painful topic. Moreover, it seems that I made you recall a painful past. That's right, let me take you to that kind of shop next time」 [TL: Brothel][ED: Stop Hinting it! Children are reading]

Gallios’s words eased my painful heart a lot.

「EH!  ！ CAN I?！Peneroa-san won't be mad at you？ 」

Peneroa is Gallios’s wife. Well, does she know that her husband often goes to that kind of store？

「Ooops, that one is bad. Please just pretend that this talk never happened」

Tch. It seems I said some unnecessary things.

After that, Gallios and I left the hot spring while cracking these kinds of jokes.

We dried our body with the towel in the dressing room, wore our clothes, and then left the hot spring.

I’m staying in a house that’s slightly away from Gallios’s since yesterday.

Since this is my first contact with human society ever since I came to this world, I felt like staying in this city for a while longer and postponing the matter of round off matter of the horn of dragon king.

After arriving at Gallios’s home, his wife came out to greet us. Some time ago, I heard the fact that she’s Renber’s older sister.

「We're back, Peneroa」

「We're home, Peneroa-san」

Gallios’s wife, Peneroa is a gentle and caring woman and a person who gives you the feeling of simplicity.

However, according to Gallios, it seems that she turns into a scary woman when angry; I just can't imagine this gentlewoman to get angry.

「Welcome back honey. My little brother is coming, you know」

「What？ Renber？ What's the matter?」

Gallios tilted his head.

I also feel that it's strange. We met him in the bar just now. Did something happen for him to meet Gallios immediately？

As we entered the house, we spotted Renber in the parlor room.

「I've been waiting for you, senpai and Kuro-dono」

It seems Renber had been waiting for us.

「What's the matter, Renber? Was there some kind of situation？ 」

Gallios enquires Renber about the situation.

「In fact, a problem just happened. Thus, I want to borrow Kuro-dono power」

Renber is saying so while looking at me.

「My, strength？」

「The truth is, an urgent notice just came from the palace guard stationed at the rampart. It seems that flocks of demon-like things appeared outside the rampart」

「WHAT！？DEMONS? THAT'S STRANGE. ARE YOU SURE？ 」

Gallios-tachi has swept away the demons in this region by gathering freedom fighters three days ago. I had also lent my hand to them, so there should be no demon in the vicinity of the Rox kingdom. It's way too early for the demons from a far place to reach here.

Even I doubt the judgment of the palace guard at the rampart. Since human eyes can't see at night, they might be mistaking it for something else.

「I also agree with you, but… According to the palace guard, when they illuminated those flocks with lighting equipment, they determined that it’s most likely goblins or orcs」

There's lighting equipment to illuminating for far distances by making use of mirrors in the rampart. Maybe they used that.

But, I heard that the orc settlement and goblin nest in this area have been swept already. Is that the truth?.

「How many of them? Are they injured?…. How many of them survived the sweeping? Those sons of a gun, even though the festival will start from tomorrow….」

Gallios smacked his lips.

I heard this afternoon about the story. There's a demon clearance event in the vicinities of the Rox kingdom in order to ensure the safety of tourists coming to the city. But, it seems that some of them slipped out of the clearing.

「It seems that their shadows are still near the rampart. We are lucky because they're not strong enough to climb the rampart. But then, according to the palace guard, the way those goblins and orcs are moving seems to be strange」

「The movements are strange？」

「Yes, so I'm thinking about taking a closer look since I feel uneasy about it. That's why I want to borrow Kuro-dono’s power to use his Night Vision skill,（Dark Vision）」

「I see」

Gallios nods on listening to Renber’s explanation.

「What do you think about it, Kuro？ I'll go along if you decide to go」

Renber and Gallios look at me.

「Yeah, it sounds nice, let's go!」

I accept the request.

I'm indebted to this couple, after all. Since Renber is Gallios’s younger brother-in-law, I should help him to return the favor.

Thus, we headed toward the rampart.

◆Dark Knight Kuroki

We have entered the forest.

Night in the forest is dark to the point that except for me, no one can see one inch ahead of them without any lighting, so everyone except for me is either using magic or magic lanterns.

Leaving the rampart at night is dangerous. But since we were close to the rampart, we could evacuate immediately if something untoward happened.

There are four other people with us other than Renber, Gallios, and me.

Gallios called for the freedom fighters to move immediately.

「As expected of the night, it's scary….」

The other member of our party, freedom fighter Steros mumbles so. He's not a native of the Rox kingdom. Though he's a bit haughty, he backed it up with his skill.

「Geez, we absolutely can't see anything with these lanterns and small balls of light」

Another freedom fighter called Pox complains as such. He's also a native of another city just like Steros.

In contrast to Steros in his first half of his 20s, Pox seems to be even more of a veteran soldier than Gallios.

「Sorry, this is the limit of my magic….」

Nimri apologizes for his inability.

He's the magician living in the Rox kingdom. It was him who healed Gallios yesterday. It seems that he was originally a child who was abandoned in front of the rampart gate of the Rox kingdom. He is the so-called lost child of the elf. The elf race is composed of nothing but women, and they make a child by cross-breeding with another race. If a girl is born, she'll become an elf and if a boy is born, he'll become the same race as his father. They were a race that has a hard time living along with another race due to various reasons. The boy will be abandoned in the nearby settlement of the same race as his father, even though the elf might not be willing to abandon them.

As a matter of fact, children born from elves have high magical power to the extent that even other races are lacking in magical power could use high-level magic. Those kind of people are precious to humans, so those children are raised carefully for the benefit of this country. Those kinds of children are usually kingdoms’ future magicians. It seems to be the main reason why there are so many male magicians in human society,

Nimri was raised by this country and learned magic from the court magician who passed away ten years ago.

Nimri appearance is like a man in his forties while he’s already more than eighty years old. I believe that it is due to the elven blood in him.

「I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it that way….」

Pox apologizes to Nimri. Basically, Pox is a good person, but he's insensitive.

Nimri just smiled at him while showing an expression of not being concerned with such remarks. I met and talked with Nimri yesterday; he seems like a good-natured person.

「Stor, have you discovered something？ 」

Gallios questions Stor, a ranger.

「Nay, the forest in the night is too much even for me. It's better if ya asked that lad over there」

The one he referred as "that lad" is me. I'm the only one who can use night vision amongst the ones in this place. Even the magician Nimri can't use it. This is a matter of compatibility rather than the low ability of the magician. For example, I can use night vision, but I can't use lighting magic like Nimri.

Hence, there I am, standing on the front lines since I can use night vision.

「How is the situation, Kuro-dono？ 」

Renber asks me.

「We are being surrounded」

「WHATTT！！？」

I can hear surprised voices when I tell them the truth.

Several shadows have come to surround us in slightly separated places within the darkness of the night.

「WHAT DID YOU SAY！！Which ones are we facing against, goblins or orcs？ 」

Gallios asks with a flustered voice.

Everyone draws their respective weapons.

「We are facing against both, but….」

Everyone is tilting their head on hearing my vague answer.

「There are both goblins and orcs？ What does that mean？ 」

Gallios questions my reply.

「There are goblins and orcs. However… They seem to be transformed into zombies」

My eyes can clearly see the things that the other member can't see.

I can't feel any life force from the goblins and the orcs that are approaching us from a nearby distance.

All of them have some wounds on their bodies. Some of them even have arrows sticking out of their bodies.

I was taught by Ruugas that they're termed moving corpses (Zombies).

The undead a.k.a. zombies hate living beings and will charge toward the direction of the sign of life.

Maybe they're approaching us because they noticed our presence.

The other members except for me are raising a ruckus upon hearing my words. They are having a discussion with each other.

「They're approaching with greater numbers than us. Perhaps those demons that were swept by us in the afternoon turned into zombies」

The reason why I thought so is that I saw an orc that I met in the afternoon amongst them.

I participated in the extermination of demons in the forest during the afternoon due to an invitation from Gallios.

I'm sure that orc is the one that I defeated this afternoon. I should have ended its life.

Now, I'm seeing that orc as a zombie. It’s still wearing the same tattered armor and sword that is used when it was alive. Perhaps it's making use of the things that would be used by humans.

Even this afternoon, I felt that they were completely different from orcs and goblins living in Nargol.

Their appearances were the same, but the orc soldiers of Nargol wear splendid unified armaments; in addition, they are also well mannered.

In contrast, the orcs who I met this afternoon are just like a savage race. They were rustic and violent – by no means the kind of race that you can communicate with at all.

In fact, I, who was summoned by the demon king, should be standing on the side of the demons. Yet, from their appearances, I wanted to stand on the human side.

Moreover, the orcs I saw this afternoon readily considered me as their enemy when they saw me. They obviously charged at me as if they were looking at delicious food on the platter; some amongst them even charged at me with a completely different emotion than the desire for food. Becoming an ally with those guys is impossible.

Moreover, the demons outside of Nargol don't serve Modes; in addition, they are also considered to have betrayed him.

The shadows approach us at high speeds. The trees in the forest, which are trifling existences under normal circumstances, become huge obstacles for them when they turn into zombies; it seems they are struggling to reach our location.

When one of them arrived at our place.

I draw my short sword and kill the one that approached us.

The reason why I'm using the short sword is that I can't afford to show my demon sword to them.

This short sword is something that I obtained from Nargol. Different from the demon sword, it's kind of a substitute. I brought along another sword since it's extremely troublesome to deal with every single trifling matter with my demon sword.

The shadow is struggling as it fell backward.

Everyone’s eyes focus on the collapsed shadow.

It became a figure of an orc without limbs and head. But, in spite of losing its head, its limbs are still struggling.

「Yup, it's a zombie…」

Gallios is confirming that while being alert toward the surrounding.

「Why… the hell they became zombies… Don't tell me it's the Striges」

Renber muttered those words with an astonished face.

「If there are zombies around, there’ll also be the ones who created them」

Some of us nod our heads on hearing Nimri’s guess.

I learned about zombies from Ruugas that undead like zombies isn't something that exists in nature. The matter of it being born due to Departed Soul Magic(Necromancy) is a general knowledge. In short, this zombie was created by someone.

「What shall we do？ The other zombies are coming, you know？ 」

Everyone starts shouting again when I say so.

Zombies move slowly. But it's dangerous to be surrounded by them. Now, we still have the chance to escape.

「What shall we do, Renber？」

Gallios asks Renber.

Renber is the leader of this party. We were waiting for his orders.

「Let's withdraw. It's safer to wait until the morning in the rampart rather than face against undead opponents from the front in total darkness」

Everyone agrees to Renber’s judgment and decision.

The zombies move at an extremely slow pace. But, fighting against them from the front isn't recommended since swords and spears have almost zero effect on them. Even if we were to fight them, it'll only end up in wasting our stamina with our current equipment.

Though I can annihilate them by myself, I, who’s currently hiding my true identity, shouldn't show too much of my power.

Moreover, all undead are weak to sunlight; they'll dissipate when they are exposed to sunlight. That's why waiting until the morning is faster and efficient than fighting against each of them.

Though some high ranking priests can use magic to create sunlight, no one amongst us is capable of using that magic.

That's why entering into the rampart to protect ourselves is a better choice than fighting against them. Everyone evacuates in hurry after hearing Renber’s decision.

「This kind of undead outbreak is completely similar to the one when the hero came a month ago！！」

Stor, Nimri, and Renber agree with Gallios’s statement. They have been living in the Rox kingdom for some periods, after all.

Could it be that something like this happened in the past？

「Yes. Maybe it has some sort of relationship with heroes-tachi」

Nimri replies to him about his guess.

「The Striges is really still alive, then」

「I don't know whether it's Striges’ doing or not… But, it's a fact that someone created this undead. We better raise our vigilance from now.」

Those were what they discussed and decided on the way back. I don't know about that story myself since I just reached the Rox kingdom yesterday. I'm completely in the unknown regarding this matter.

But from their conversation, it seems this has something to do with the hero.

Maybe Shirone is also involved in this matter. Suddenly, I think about that possibility.

Nevertheless, why is the hero coming at such a timing？

I suddenly have a premonition that something ominous is about to happen.