Chapter 129 – I’d rather die than to endure such an insult…
Chapter 127
From noble mtl dot com.
Two weeks have passed since I started learning swordsmanship from Elfriede.
The Bathory family, which had been in chaos after the duke’s expulsion, began to calm down to some extent, and the family was on a stable track again, with the amount of tasks that Estelle assisted visibly decreased.
Nevertheless…
“I still have a lot of work to do.”
“Still, it has decreased a lot.”
In addition to Elfriede, Estelle, and Elena, there was one more person in the office today.
“Hello, Saint Cynthia.”
“It’s been a while, Warrior Abel.”
It was Saint Cynthia, the Saint of Elfriede, who returned after staying for a while in the Lunaria Temple. The divine power pocket is amazing today.
Maybe it’s because there are a lot of people in the office, but the room that normally looked a little empty felt full today. It’s nice that it’s not empty.
Come to think of it, the Solarian saint who serves the sun goddess and the Lunarian saint who serves the moon goddess are in the same place.
Usually those who serve opposing gods like this would be at odds with each other, but the two saints here have no sign of that. I mean it’s amazing
I said to Elfriede, who was about to get up after sorting out the paperwork.
“Elfriede, shall we take a break from training today?”
“Um, why?”
“You look busy.”
“It’s okay. This isn’t even a lot of work. I’m in good shape today, so there’s no reason to take a break from training.”
“Then what…”
Sometimes I wonder if I’m overdoing it. After giving her swordsmanship instruction, she went back to her office and worked until late at night, and seemed to be sleeping.
The answer came out when I thought about the time when Estelle would return. At least I’ll be back to my room later than Estelle…
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Elfriede.”
“…Thank you for your concern. But it’s really good. Go ahead.”
“Yes.”
What do you want to learn today? Over the past two weeks, I’ve been learning a few skills from Elfriede and putting them into my body. I also learned the skill she had shown me as an example of her swordsmanship, ‘fineness’.
Elfriede said that my special strength is speed, and she taught me techniques to make good use of that speed. Up until yesterday, I had spent my training hours mastering other skills, but today it was my turn to learn something new. What else would you like to teach me?
“Hero Abel!”
With that in mind, we were heading to the gymnasium, but a man who appeared to be a servant of the duchy blocked our way. Elfriede tilted her head and said.
“What is it?”
“Ah, Saint Celine sent someone a while ago. Hero Abel asked me to tell him to come quickly.”
“Yes?”
…Celine suddenly called me?
There was only one reason why she was suddenly like this. Did Alicia tell you something about her?
I looked at Elfriede who was next to me and said.
“Elfriede, I’m sorry, but the training will be postponed until later. And I’ll take Estelle with me for a while.”
“…Is something going on?”
“I think you have to go to know that. First….”
“My lady, this is a message!”
At that time, another attendant came to see Elfriede, saying that a message had come. I nodded to Elfride and headed back to her office to take Estelle away.
But the servant’s continued words caught my footsteps.
“This is a request to summon warriors! It is said that a high-risk monster has appeared in the border area between Vesta Kingdom and Mars Empire!”
“…What? What is the confirmed grade?”
“I was delivered to the Barbatos class!”
Barbatos?
“Are you a knight type?”
“No. It is a beast type.”
“…Beast type?”
It was the first type I had ever heard of. However, I was able to make some inference just by hearing the name. It must be a high-risk monster with the appearance of a beast.
I wonder if it would be comfortable to think of Horn Tiger. It’s far more dangerous than that, but…
Seeing that the message arrived and the timing of Celine’s call was similar, it seemed that I was the cause of the appearance of that Barbatos class monster. hahahaha.
“Oops, let’s go…”
“Elfriede.”
“Why but?”
“I’ll go alone this time.”
“What?”
“It will be enough if you take Estelle with you. Elfriede still has a lot of work left to do. Don’t worry and leave it to me.”
If it was a Barbatos class monster, I could now subdue it. Just in case you don’t know, just take Estelle with you.
Elfriede looked at me quietly and asked.
“…Are you okay, Abel?”
“Sure.”
I proudly tapped my chest and said.
“When I caught Agareth-class monsters, I also caught Barbatos-class knight-type monsters.”
“…Okay. I am grateful for your consideration.”
“Tell Estelle to come to the inn. I’ll go see Celine right away.”
“I do.”
#
“Celine!”
I arrived at the inn and opened the door. Then Celine found me and said.
“Hero!”
“Did Alicia tell you something about her?”
“Yes, that is why I sent someone.”
Beside Celine, Alicia was slightly nervous. She’s like she’s a scared person.
“Alicia, why are you so scared?”
“Ah, my father got angry…”
“What?”
A demon king?
Alicia hesitated.
“It seems that her older sister, who was nestled in the Glacier Mountains, failed to capture you and was angry with her for being subdued.”
“Then why did you send the Barbatos class monster that appeared this time?”
“…Barbatos class? Ah, you humans are talking about the standard of division. But did only one appear?”
Only one? Why do you have to ask that…
“…You mean there might be more of them?”
“Because my father ordered this. Send your subordinates right away to capture you. Since she was very angry, there must be many unnies following her.
So, the Barbatos-class monster that appeared this time is just the beginning.
…Now that things are going like this, I feel like a piper. Aren’t monsters attacking where I am?
“…Ha. I don’t want people to suffer because of me.”
“The hero didn’t do it on purpose.”
As soon as the Duke of Bathory stabilizes, it seems that we will have to subdue Mother again. So it looks like something will happen.
“Hey, is Abel here?”
“Oh, are you here?”
It seems that Estelle also heard Elfriede’s message and followed her. As if she had run, she told Estelle, who was breathing fast, the story she had heard from Celine.
“…I see. I won’t have time to think. Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
“I entrusted permission to use the gate to Hero Elfriede. You can go right away.”
“Oh.”
It’s the gate! I wanted to ride more since I rode it once the last time, but I can’t believe this opportunity has come. I lifted Alicia up and sat her on her shoulder.
The stride is narrow, so it’s slow to just walk.
“Hee, hee!? Why are you doing that! I-I don’t know what I did, but I apologize if I’m wrong!!”
“It’s not like that. You have a narrow stride, so this is fast.”
“Ah…That, it was like that.”
Soothing the flustered Alicia, I said.
“Let’s go!”
However, the eyes of Estelle and Celine looking at me were mysterious.
“…Why is that?”
“…It’s nothing, you fool.”
“Yes, nothing.”
“…?”
What is it? What’s the matter.
Estel and Celine shook their heads slightly and left the room first. I followed them with a bit of a puzzled feeling.
#
After moving through the gate of Bonaparte City, we looked around.
What is it?
“Did we arrive properly?”
“…I think so.”
I came right to the border area, but somehow I can’t see any guards. There is a guard post, but it is empty.
Estel looked around and came to a conclusion.
“Looks like I entered first.”
“Then shall we go?”
When I asked, Estelle smiled lightly and she talked.
“Is Abel really stupid~ ♡ Does she go there knowing where it is~?”
“… Alicia is there. Forgot that too, Estelle is actually an idiot, right?”
I returned Estelle’s prank that was teasing me.
I’m afraid mother is next to me and I don’t even know where the monster is. However, Estelle’s reaction was strange.
“Ah, I feel so humiliated to hear Abel call me an idiot…”
“…Yes?”
“To be called an idiot by Abel, who has less memory than a goldfish, is an intolerable insult! To bear such an insult… I’d rather die♡”
“What kind of reaction!?”
I was a little taken aback when I heard Estelle’s jokes that she used to say after a long time. Then Estelle giggled and laughed.
“Just kidding♡ I forgot Alicia was there. She must have worn her hair too much lately.”
“…Heh heh.”
She felt new to the feeling of being spoiled for the first time in a long time.
…Yes, Estelle was originally like this. I put that spicy feeling behind and asked Alicia.
“Alicia, where are the monsters?”
“Ugh, huh? I do not know either.”
“What?”
…Is the alarm broken? A broken machine can be fixed by hitting it.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that!”
“Why don’t you know?”
“How do you know where I am when it’s not my child?”
“Huh?”
Can’t pinpoint her location unless she’s a monster she gave birth to?
“I can detect it at a certain distance, but I can’t feel anything right now.”
“Hmm.”
Then I’ll have to look around a bit. With that thought in mind, she was about to move her steps when she saw someone running over the fence of the border post.
“Hero, someone is coming over there.”
“Yes, I saw it too. You look like a soldier from the Border Guard?”
I stepped towards him. However, the closer I got, the clearer the soldier’s expression looked, and I began to feel uneasy.
The soldier caught his breath and saluted, and I told him.
“…This is Abel, the warrior who came after receiving a request to summon warriors. Where are the monsters?”
“Yo, hero. Thank you for coming. But why did you come alone?”
“Elfriede is busy with work, so I’m here to take care of it. I heard that it is a Barbatos-class beast-type monster.”
“This, my God.”
The soldier made an expression of despair.
What if I’m so openly disappointed? No matter how much I look less trustworthy than Elfriede…
From noble mtl dot com.
“Hero, this is a really big deal. This is something that Hero Elfriede has to come too.”
“Yes?”
“There wasn’t just one Barbatos-class beast-type monster…!”
…Huh?
“What else appeared?”
“I went out to tie the feet of the monsters for a while until the warriors arrived, but when I went there, there wasn’t one. As we discovered the beast-type monster and began to intercept it to slow our advance, a demon fell from the sky.”
Devil. At those words, I immediately remembered the floating monster I saw in the Habsburg city in the past. Now that I think about it, the red devil had an appearance close to that of a knight, but it seems that it was classified as a floating type just because of its large wings.
“Are you floating?”
“…That seems to be the case. However, it is a floating monster close to the knight type.”
“What about grades?”
“I can’t be specific yet, sorry.”
“…Hmm.”
Should I wait for Elfriede? But she’s been pretty busy. I’d rather handle it on my own…
“Huh, where have all the soldiers gone? Did these guys even run away?”
“?”
I heard a slightly familiar male voice. I glanced back and met the man’s eyes.
And I couldn’t help but frown. So was the man.
“…Why are you here again?”
“I want to ask.”
…Yes, since the request to summon the warriors has gone, this guy might come too. The man who appeared behind me was Levius Grospel, another hero like me and Elfriede.
Behind him, his colleagues, Natalie and Sonia, were also visible. And there’s one more, who is it? His hair is blue Are you a new colleague?
I decided to put my curiosity aside for now and looked at Levius.
…Anyway, it’s the feeling of running into each other needlessly.
“Ha, Elfriede, where did this woman go again? She heard recently that Duke Bathory was ousted, but is she busy with that?”
“How do you know that already?”
“That happened, but I, the great noble of Minerva, don’t you think I didn’t hear about it?”
“…Did you hear who did that?”
“No, I haven’t even heard of that…Wait, why do I have to tell you, a commoner, about this?”
He replied, but…Anyway, the news that I did it doesn’t seem to spread. That’s kinda lucky
I asked Levius.
“…Levius, you came to subdue monsters.”
“Then, would you like to come to play?”
“…Yeah, it’s better than nothing.”
“What did you just say?”
“No. Soliloquy. You know, what appeared was not a single Barbatos-class beast-type monster.”
“What? Did I give you wrong information again? Why can’t I do anything right?”
…I don’t like Levius, but I agree with him. Honestly, how many times have you misunderstood monster information?
“Anyway, so what I wanted to say is…”
“A pincer attack is dismissed. I have no intention of getting along with the likes of you, a commoner.”
“… Hey, I hate you too, don’t I? Who said we should match? There are two monsters. Then you won’t have to take it one by one.”
“Hmm, yes. That’s right.”
This is also surprisingly easy to admit. I told Levius what the soldier had told me. After hearing the story, Levius pondered a little, and then he spoke to me.
“I will take charge of the floating monster.”
“Huh? I’m surprised I thought they would leave it to me because I couldn’t figure out the grade.”
“Why do you think I would leave that to you, a commoner? Rather, since the grade was not identified, it is natural that I, as a veteran, should be in charge.”
Hoho, in this aspect, you are cold again. Well, the other day when I was subjugating an Amon-class giant monster, I was serious when fighting.
“But you are weaker than me.”
“This, this commoner bastard is trying to do it now!?”
“No, to put it bluntly. If it’s Barbatos class or higher, can you handle it?”
Levius’s eyebrows twitched as they narrowed, but he couldn’t deny it. And he sighed and spoke.
“…No. I can’t handle it.”
“Then you’d better take on the Beast type as well.”
“Isn’t it possible that the floating type is lower than the Barbatos class?”
“Then wasn’t it rather good? It’s only natural that you, a ‘veteran’ and ‘senior’, take on more dangerous monsters than me.”
“…This commoner is playing with words…”
At that time, someone clapped. Then, behind Levius, a blue-haired woman came forward and said,
“Come on, you two. Let’s stop arguing and let’s go. Even now, innocent soldiers are dying.”
“…Who is this?”
“Can’t you see it? This is why commoners are…”
f*ck, do you know what kind of person you are just by looking at your face? He must be a master of character quizzes.
The blue-haired woman bowed slightly at the waist and greeted me.
“Nice to meet you, Hero Abel. I am Astria, a saintess of the Church of Euraria.”
She was a saint of the Church of Euraria. Like the color of her hair, it was a very fitting image. By the way, you have a new lady, Levius, after all.
“It is an honor to meet you, Saint Astria.”
“You are a well-mannered person. Unlike anyone else.”
“…?”
What is it? It feels like I just sniped Levius.
“Astria! Are you being arrogant again!”
“Ugh, I still haven’t gotten over that crazy personality.”
Huh? I feel like saying something…
“…You must have known each other before?”
“Ah, I am from the kingdom of Minerva. The daughter of the Duke of Minerva, the Pendragon family. I have a pretty deep relationship with the same duchy, the Grospel family, so I’ve known that idiot for a long time.”
“Who are you calling a fool, Astria!”
“It’s noisy, Levius. You should be grateful that I accompanied you, right?”
Were you a noble? The saints I’ve met have all been commoners, but to say that they’re aristocratic saints… And if you’re a duke, you’re on the same level as the Bathory family.
Something feels very strange.
At that time, Estelle lowered her head slightly and said,
“Abel, aren’t you paying attention again?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I really can’t allow it anymore.”
“…Isn’t it like that? I didn’t even think about that in the first place.”
“Then I’m glad.”
What kind of girls do I see? I know you’re a drunkard. That idiot is this bastard in front of me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…No, let’s go quickly.”
“Yes, you spend too much time on commoners. Let’s go quickly.”
…Yes, yes.
Now Celine doesn’t have to bless Levius. Then Alicia pulled me by her side.
“Oh, Abel, what should I do?”
“You should come too.”
“No, that’s scary.”
“Still, it’s nearby. Because being near Estelle is the safest.”
Levius looked at Alicia next to her and tilted her head.
“…What is it, commoner?”
“What else is wrong?”
“Why are you taking such a child with you?”
“…….”
I can’t say it’s an alarm, so what should I say? If you say it’s a saved child, taking it with you is a strange situation…
“This is the child we rescued.”
Eh, Estelle!?
Levius heard that and said as if he didn’t understand.
“Then why did you bring me here?”
“For some reason, I decided to take him with me for a while. It’s safer to have it next to me than to leave it alone somewhere.”
“…….”
For some reason, Levius couldn’t deny it.
…As expected, Levius, this bastard seems to know Estelle’s real power.
“…Just keep it out of the way.”
“I think so.”
Estelle held out her hand to Alicia, and Alicia held Estelle’s hand tightly. I saw it and told everyone here.
“Then let’s go.”