Chapter 173

We wanted to advance further into the forest, but it was much more difficult than we thought .

We were struggling with the endless flow of monsters .

「Over there, Nanase!!」

「Got it!! Fall to the ground–『Wind Blade』!」

Nanase-kun fired his magic when he heard Asahina-kun say that .

Even though the magic was extremely basic and was the first one that was taught to wind magicians, the power of Nanase-kun’s『Wind Blade』was on the intermediate level .

Looking closely, the wind in the surrounding areas was gathered around him .

If we weren’t in the middle of a battle, I would’ve liked to ask him what he did to produce that much power .

The monsters in the air sunk into the ground .

Not letting such an opportunity slip away, Asahina-kun and Satou-kun both readied their weapons .

To answer the question of why we were in the middle of combat once again, we’d have to go back to about five minutes ago .

Having escaped the tree monsters–Treants, and met up, we travelled along the untroddened paths of the forest, staying alert so as to avoid the monsters whenever possible .

「Come to think of it, that ball that we were given in the dungeon, what was that . 」

Waki-kun muttered this as he walked behind the cat that he had tamed .

If I remembered correctly, according to the investigative report on the time when the Minotaur appeared in the Continent Dungeon despite it being an upper floor, the monster repellent balls that Satou kun used attracted monsters instead .

I was thinking of asking about it in detail afterwards, but after that incident, Commander Saran died, and I never got around to it .

Akira-kun, who played a huge part in defeating the Minotaur, left the castle after that scandal, and when I thought about it now, that too was a part of the king’s scheme .

「I don’t know . The last one that I had used at that time was something that was given to me by that princess . I used it so that I could help everyone from the other groups and not have to fight with the monsters . …wait, mine seemed to be of a different color… . 」

My eyes widened at the last part of Satou-kun’s words .

Smoke bombs that either attracted monsters or repelled them were commonly sold everywhere, even at the Adventurer Guild, and their effects were dependent on the color of the ball .

I had planned to gradually teach the heroes, but it seems that the king and the others had set a trap before I could .

「Do you remember what color it was??」

「If, if I remember correctly, it was red . 」

As I thought, I felt disappointment towards the royal family that I protected, when I heard Satou-kun’s answer as he looked up at the sky .

「I think you guessed it from the fact that the other balls had a different color, but red balls are the ones that attract strong monsters . Normally, it would be used so that one could raise their levels despite being on an upper floor, but presumably, only the one that Satou-kun had, did not repel monsters, but attracted them . Our chivalric order was negligent in checking your belongings as well . I’m sorry . 」

When I bowed my head, Satou-kun and the others panicked and asked me to raise my head .

I wanted the king and the others to have such humility as well .

In the past, he did not make use of people as if they were disposable tools .

That was why we were the chivalric order that protected the king .

We should not have needed to protect people from the king by any means .

「Even so, why did they target Satou-kun?」

「Saa, perhaps they no longer needed heroes or something?」

I tilted my head in confusion at Nanase-kun’s words .

Before summoning the heroes, the king and the others were particularly fixated on the summoning .

Was that also, after the king began investigating a matter as if possessed by something following the death of the queen .

That’s right, everything started to go awry after the queen passed away .

A long time ago, the king was a kindhearted king who cared about the chivalric order .

「…saa, putting that aside, why don’t we keep going . I hope that it will continue like this and we will not encounter monsters . 」

「Zeal-san, that is what we call a “flag” . 」

Nanase-kun said this with a dejected look on his face, taking no heed of my words that purposely avoided the topic .

From the bottom of my heart, I was truly relieved that Akira-kun was not here .

If it was him, he would let anything pass him by, not even the things that I was slightly hesitant to say .

And so, we began walking, but all of a sudden, our surroundings darkened, and we all vigilantly placed our hands on our weapons .

I was impressed by their exceptionally practiced movements, which was unlike when they first arrived at the castle, as my hand also landed on the hilt of the sword that was on my waist .

I gingerly looked up, and was at a loss for words .

「A whale!?」

It seems that Satou-kun knew what that was .

The enormous creature that completely blocked our field of vision was leisurely floating in the sky .

It had a large mouth and its body was reminiscent of a fish .

It was small, but I could see that it had a sharp tusk .

The small black eyes that could barely be seen were looking down at us .

It seems that it had determined us to be enemies .

Even though I had just thought that it would be good if we didn’t encounter them .

「For aerial type monsters, our attacks won’t reach it if we don’t make them fall to the ground! For now, let’s use long range magic to shoot it down!」

When I said this, Asahina-kun, who was relatively close to the monster, immediately fired his magic into the sky .

「Ignite my soul, and incinerate my enemies–『Inferno』」

Asahina-kun’s flame magic covered the sky .

It was the advanced-leveled flame magic,『Inferno』 .

The hell fire incinerated the monster that was floating in the sky and enveloped its large build .

It was one of the advanced-level magic that only a certain number of people in this world could use .

「…it didn’t work!?」

Despite this, after the smoke cleared, the big monster did not have a single injury .

It was just, considerably closer to the ground than before .

「Maybe it is just immune to magic! For now, let’s try shooting it out of the sky . 」

On Satou-kun’s orders, everyone used their own long-ranged attacks .

「It’s no good! It’s completely ineffective!!」

Waki-kun groaned in despair .

Even if we didn’t use their full power, there was certainly the sensation that our attacks landed .

However, that large body did not even flinch .

If it’s monsters that are immune to magic, then even in the Continent Dungeon, I’ve encountered such monsters several times .

However, among the attacks just now, were the arrows that Waki-kun released, as well as the daggers that had been coated with poison that were effective on monsters thrown by Hosoyama-san and Ueno-san .

All of them should’ve reached the monster .

Despite this, the monster did not receive even a single injury, and was still floating in the sky .

Within this kind of tense situation, I unconsciously sighed .

I see, as we approached the demon territory, more and more monsters that transcended common sense will appear, huh .

No wonder Akira-kun disapproved of their, and my, intervention .

The things he worried about were truly difficult to understand .

I hadn’t known him for a long time, but he was similar to a certain awkward backsmith .

「It’s attacking!!」

Tsuda-kun raised his voice and raised his big shield in front of the noncombatants .

He too had grown considerably recently .

Did this forest force him to do so .

Thinking about such an impossibility, I gave a soft laugh .

『Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!』

When it gave a cry that sounded like a scream, countless sharp things similar to needles were discharged from the monster’s underbelly .

After I repelled them all with my sword, I looked them over to see if they were alright .

And I once again gave a laugh .

Even if they were injured, the light in their eyes did not die out .

「Over there, Nanase!!」

Aah, right now, I felt like I understood that Kurou-sama, who was extremely insistent on not taking on a disciple, had started to become moved by Princess Amelia .

People, would feel extremely satisfied when they see their students grow .

To the extent where they want to see more of it .

「Got it!! Fall to the ground–『Wind Blade』!」