NOVEL NEXT C33
C33: Five Knights and Lucia
“I’m back, Sensei.”
“————Welcome back.”
Brünnhilde really came back in about three minutes. She had already taken off her Excalibur and was sitting next to me in the same silvery white armor as usual.
Looking at her like this, she looks like a pretty girl; it’s hard to believe that she’s the same Brunnhilde who slaughtered the bandits three minutes ago. My heart ached a little at the thought of killing the bandits, but it couldn’t be helped. The bandits are also stealing, and all I can say is that they had bad luck.
I looked at Lucia and the others, they are still on the move or rather, Brunnhilde moved too fast. I’ll ask Lucia to retrieve the stolen items for me later.
Brünnhilde is here, so I don’t have to worry anymore. I’ll just relax and observe how the knights fight.
“Is Gron the first one to make contact with the bandits?”
When I touched Gron’s marker on the map to bring up the image, I saw a strange sight. To my surprise, Gron had taken off his black armor and was naked on his upper body.
“What?”
“Has he abandoned his defenses?”
Brünnhilde also looked at the video and nodded her head. Gron runs into a group of bandits who are carrying a package. The bandits are surprised. Of course they were, because they were carrying a package and a naked man with a skin head appeared out of nowhere.
“Come on, you bandits!”
The bandits were quick to recover. They threw away the wooden box of loot and pulled out the swords they had on their hips. About ten in number, surrounded Gron with quick movements.
Gron inflated every muscle in his body like a bodybuilder. Huh? The bandits made sickening faces and slashed at him at once. However, the swords of the bandits broke as if they had struck a hard rock, and the arrows of the bandits who shot away were bounced by the muscles.
“My muscles are stronger than your weapons.”
After that, he punched the bandits one by one. The bandits were blown to pieces by the blows, crouched down with broken bones, or died with their necks snapped. In the end, Gron did not use his sword.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Ratz and Arato were also in the battle. The two of them were not ring bearers, or they would have fought a straightforward battle. However, their skills were not half bad. They were overwhelming the bandits with a strength that rivaled even the knights of the Ostrode Kingdom, and any bandit who resisted was decapitated without reservation.
Ratz pushed up his misaligned glasses.
“Oh dear, I told you there would be no mercy if you resisted. Why do you fight these unwinnable battles?”
He’s swinging his sword like he’s bored out of his mind. However, his sword is terribly sharp, and the darkness of the night makes it difficult to read the trajectory of his jet-black sword. I wonder if the reason the sword is black is because it’s more advantageous at night.
Arato swung his sword in silence. The difference between Arato and Ratz is that he uses not only a black sword, but also a throwing knife with a black blade. He fights like an assassin rather than a knight.
“———resistance, stop.”
In the meantime, he’s telling them to surrender——Though his voice is too quiet to be heard.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
The men’s fight was over easily and I decided to watch the two women fight. Aside from Lucia, what kind of battle will Yura, the short brown-haired female knight and Tomo have.
“Oh, Eula is an……archer.”
Yura was shooting arrows from the top of a tree. The most amazing thing was that the arrows shot through the bandits’ brains in an impossible trajectory. Could it be that the manipulation of the arrows was Yura’s “unreasonable power”?
“Hmm, it’s easy, easy, easy. I’m sure the others have a lot of fun.”
I can hear what Eula is saying through the Holacty’s sound collector. I changed the channel to Tomo.
“It’s……….”
She stood there with a smirk on her face……and bandits were lying at her feet. They all had their heads cut clean off, and when I changed the channel to watch, it was over.
“Huh, even people who don’t have cheats are this strong?”
Tomo grinned at me with a creepy smile and I changed the channel in horror. Finally, only Lucia was left.
“That’s what I thought…….”
The bandits were already dead and lying at Lucia’s feet. In the end, ten or so bandits were no match for Lucia.
“Holacty, check the perimeter for enemy remnants.”
It seems there are no remnants.
The bandits have been destroyed and I can survey the ruins with peace of mind. Also, there’s something I need to do while I’m here.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Not long after that, Lucia and the five knights came back to the empty house I was in. It’s no surprise that I saw them, but they couldn’t have been injured. I deactivated Holacty.
“Gron, you’re in command of the recovery team that will follow. The location of the stolen goods is…….”
“Oh, I’ve been looking for it but it’s pretty disorganized, so a map would be nice.”
“…….Thanks for the help, Sage.”
While I was waiting, I did what I could. I searched the area around this place to locate the stolen goods and scanned the surrounding ruins for a possible entrance.
I marked the location of the stolen goods on the map that Lucia had given me.
“Good. Gron, instruct the recovery team to collect the stolen goods and gather the bandits’ corpses for disposal. The rest of you keep an eye on the perimeter and kill any monsters that are attracted to the smell of blood. I will return to the kingdom with Sage and Brunnhilde.”
「「「「「 Yes, My Lord 」」」」」
Lucia handed the map to Gron, who urged me and Brunnhilde on. Now, let’s go back to town.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
It’s about a three-hour walk to town. And the time now is about 11:00 at night. You know……why do I have to walk for three hours this late at night? Why can’t the recovery team just bring a horse or something like that……?
We are walking in the dark with only a cantera(lantern). It’s a little scary…….I hope there are no ghosts.
“Sage.”
“Whoa!”
“……don’t yell so loud.”
“I’m scared of your helmet.”
On a dark street at night, illuminated by a dim cantera light, a black helmet…..looks like wandering armor. Lucia removes her helmet, revealing her beautiful face.
“Are you okay with this?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Thank you again…….Your cheat was very accurate.”
“Thanks a lot, it’s a unique weapon.”
“I see. As for the reward, half of the amount paid to the Knights will be your share. I’ll tell the Adventurer’s Guild to pay you.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you, Brunnhilde, for all your hard work.”
“No problem.”
I didn’t show it on my face, but I was quite happy. Half of the reward paid to the knights is quite a lot of money. I currently have 78 gold coins, and more money is always better.
We’ve killed the bandits and confirmed the geography of the area. If all goes well, I’ll be able to survey the ruins tomorrow.
“Sage, are you still not talking to me?”
“………What?”
“What you’re here for.”
………You’re talking about that again?
“……..Why do you care so much? I just want to explore the ruins.”
“I’m asking because you’re a good guy, carrying something big and you feel like you need to go it alone…….”
“………”
“I don’t really understand it either, and if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But……is there anything I can do to help? I want to thank you personally.”
“………Lucia.”
I can’t tell from the light of the cantera, but I think Lucia’s face is turning red. Strangely enough, I felt as if I could feel Lucia’s kindness. I had a feeling that Lucia would be……willing to believe me.
“………What do you think of the Ostrode Kingdom?”
The Ostrode Kingdom?……That country is dangerous. There are rumors of numerous human experiments, the production of magic soldiers, and that they have summoned about 30 “ring-bearers” and are using them as weapons. The ultimate goal of that country is to unite the Eight Great Kingdoms and destroy the Seven Kingdoms. We can never allow that to happen.”
“………What if I’m from the Ostrode Kingdom?”
“What?”
“What if I’m……one of the thirty or so ring-bearers summoned by the Ostrode Kingdom?”
“………What do you mean?”
Lucia stopped and looked straight at me. I looked right at her. The light from the cantera dimly illuminates me and Lucia.
“I am a human from another world, summoned to the Ostrode Kingdom.”
I decided to tell Lucia about what had happened so far.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
I explained that I was summoned to the Ostrode Kingdom, that I was not chosen but involved, that my original “cheat” was not very useful, that I had come to the Ledo village in an accident during training, and about Brunnhilde…….
Lucia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I can’t believe………Brunnhilde isn’t human?”
“Yes. She’s an android……that was created by humans a long time ago.”
“Yes. I am the War Maiden type android code04 Brünnhilde.”
“……Is it true that there are thirty cheat holders summoned by the Ostrode Kingdom? And that these children are your students?”
“Yeah……that’s right. The reason I came to the Magicalize Kingdom was to gather information about the Ostrode Kingdom and to talk to the Queen of the Night, Nachtigal, who is called a Demon King. We’re investigating the ruins because there might be an android like Brunnhilde who was created a long time ago, or a powerful weapon lying around.”
“Are you going to war with the Ostrode Kingdom?”
“No, I’m not. I just want to retrieve my students and return to my world.”
“………”
I told her most of my situation. I knew that I could trust Lucia and no matter how this turns out, I will not regret it. Then Lucia let out a small breath.
“……In a few days, Chancellor Nachtigal will return. I will explain your situation and arrange for you to meet her. In the meantime, you should investigate the ruins.”
“Yeah……Lucia, you.”
“I believe you, Sage. And Brunnhilde, of course.”
“………”
“And with you around, even the thirty cheats that the Ostrode Kingdom has summoned might not be able to do anything against us. If Chancellor Nachtigal forms an alliance with the Kingdom of Fauve, even the Ostrode Kingdom will not be able to touch you.”
“……Are you sure? Do you trust me?”
“Yeah. I’ll say it again, you’re not a bad guy. I believe you.”
Lucia held out her right hand to me. I stared at her right hand and looked at Lucia’s face. Then, Lucia smiled gently. Can I take that hand? I’m not sure if she’ll betray me like Wade and the others did. But……I had a feeling that Lucia would be fine.
“Thank you, Lucia.”
I took Lucia’s hand and gave it a firm shake. We are both wearing armor so I could only feel a hard touch but the hand felt very warm to me.