8. uncomfortable eating (1)
Wow-!
The monster’s roar hit the ears like a hammer. It hurt deeply, but the intent to kill was not broken. They did not run away, whimpering that they had just cut off a leg or an arm. Every time the wounds on his body increased, he frothed and frothed at his mouth. That’s why monsters can be said to be creatures rather than creatures. Because I wanted to kill rather than live. These guys, especially when they see a person, let go of their minds and run.
pick-
I let go of my front paws. It didn’t fit because of a short hair difference. A small crater appeared on the ground just a step away. The monster I was dealing with, the gray bear, was very large. The bear I saw in the picture before being possessed was just a shaggy gym ball, but the gym ball froze to death. There is no way to explain the sense of intimidation that comes from that size. It was as if a small hill was alive and moving.
“Damn the teddy bear.”
The gray bear wasn’t just big, it was also fast. The arm he wielded was devastating the surroundings like a battering ram. If you look closely, it’s different from the bear you see in the picture. The bears I knew didn’t have those abnormally long forelimbs or the pectoralis major muscles like Mt. Baekdu. The gray bear glared at me for a moment, catching his breath, then lunged at me, knocking down a tree.
Wow-!!
If I roll sideways, I think I’ll get caught by that front leg, and avoiding backwards wasn’t a consideration at all. If I tried to avoid it by jumping up, it seemed like the bear would catch me, and I couldn’t dig into the ground like a mole and disappear, so the only option left was to dig inside. As I try to sneak to the left, the gray bear’s right foreleg opens wide, opening a gap between its torso.
“Joe, be careful… !”
Today, as always, I was with Daphne. Daphne has grown greatly over the past few days. Now, Daphne’s panicking on the battlefield didn’t happen to anyone. When I tried to use magic on monsters, it still failed, but the protection magic that was cast on me now found a sense of stability. I felt that the magical shield covering my body was quite strong. I’d probably be okay with accidentally getting hit by that goddamned bear.
Believing in that protective magic, I charged at the charging bear. Between my arms and body, I clenched my teeth and threw myself. With his front legs thicker than most logs. The foul smell of wild beasts passed by. His arm moving forward could not be retrieved due to its tremendous inertia. The bear, which had only been roaring, braked hard this time with a growl as if embarrassed.
“… Do you really have to do this?”
It was a very miserable situation for being possessed as a hero. I rolled one lap with the same momentum as I threw my body, and I stretched out my left foot and fixed my body firmly. My feet pierced the ground like wedges, splashing pebbles and dust all over my face. I didn’t have the luxury of spitting out the sand that got into my mouth. I glared at the bear’s wide open body as I chewed on the grains of dirt that had slipped between my molars.
“Sup-.”
Raising the tip of the holy sword, I gripped it as my body told me to. The left arm holds the center of gravity of the sword, and the right arm prepares to shoot the tip of the sword like an arrow. I felt something other than blood pouring out of my panting heart. it was mana Mana could be drawn out and grown with a special breathing method. The hero’s body had accumulated quite a lot of mana, and that was the greatest luck to me.
Pudeudeuk.
Muscles and bones contracted and gathered strength. Before the gray bear regained its collapsed position and attacked me again, I fired the holy sword with all my might, triggering magic power. The unleashed power ripped through the air and flew towards the gray bear’s flank. Perhaps sensing the end, the bear roared harder than ever before, and my holy sword, tougher than steel, pierced the flesh of the strong beast and delivered the impact intact to his heart. I didn’t stop at piercing the body, I raised the holy sword and cut deeply into the gray bear’s body again and again.
woo woo woo… .
The gray bear just fell back with a whine, thump. fell down with a sound. I let out a rough breath that I had put off due to tension, and at the same time I spit out the dirt and sand that got into my mouth. Blood trickled down the body of the dead bear in a small cloth. His clothes and face were a mess of dust and grizzly bear blood.
“Really, it counts dirty.”
The gray bear was different from the monsters he had dealt with so far. Wild boars and wild dogs were okay with a few of them, but the first-class dangerous monsters were different. If you go to the battlefield where the ‘Seven Plagues’ lurk, these guys will pour down in dozens or hundreds, but how the hell did you catch the ‘Third Plague’ should be considered a mystery at this point.
“… Illroy.”
With the sound of rustling footsteps, Daphne approached from behind. Her face is full of worry. I looked at her and waved my hand around as if I was okay, but Daphne, still worried, cautiously placed her hand on my face and turned it sideways.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Thanks to your protection magic, no one is hurt.”
Daphne lifted her head slightly without lifting her hands from my face. Her purple eyes really surprise me a little every time I see them like this.
“Really?”
“yes. really. Because you’re fine.”
When I let out a big laugh and confirmed that I was okay several times, Daphne backed away from me with her face slightly red.
“… Illroy is strong.”
Daphne muttered as she turned her gaze to the gray bear corpse behind me. I followed her eyes to the fallen gray bear and shook my head.
“To be strong. I’m just having a hard time catching that one bear.”
“There are no wounds. There are only a handful of people in all of the capital who can catch that gray bear alone without getting hit.”
Daphne clumsily tried to comfort me. I liked the fact that I was able to afford to comfort someone during a battle rather than the top itself. I snapped the holy sword and bent my head back and forth.
“I was lucky when I defeated ‘The Third Plague’. There’s no guarantee that it will happen next time, so I’m struggling somehow now.”
Yes, in the original game, when the ‘third calamity’ was defeated, everyone in the party was lacking. Arjen was weak, Georg, Isis, and the wizard who was on vacation were also weak. Not to mention Illroy. Thanks to that, it took thousands of victims when the disaster was defeated. At the mention of the ‘Third Plague’, a shadow fell on Daphne’s face.
“… Why is a disaster a disaster?”
A catastrophe that will destroy the world. Seven threats that have existed since the age of mythology. Defeating them was the long-cherished wish and task of all mankind. The first and second plagues were defeated in the past by kings and heroes at great cost. The third plague, with the same number of sacrifices, was suffocated by a clumsy warrior.
“So it is.”
I grumbled bitterly. When I think of the majesty of the rest of the disasters described in the original work, it is all the more striking that now is not the time to sit around like this. I sighed and looked up. In just a few days, the years got longer. Would you like to have a little more leeway? I approached the tree trunk that the gray bear had knocked down and perched on it. Daphne came over and sat next to me.
“How was the third plague?”
Daphne, who had been sitting still for a while without saying anything, asked.
“… Kraken. Know? It was a huge octopus. To the point where a sailboat or something like that looks like a toy. A person with seasickness probably won’t even get close to it.”
I answered, but I had never fought the third plague, so I couldn’t tell you much about my experience. I narrowed down the information extracted from the original story and told it, but avoided the detailed story and evaded it. I kept avoiding talking like that, then met eyes with Daphne, who was still looking at me, and swallowed dryly. Oops, did I act too suspicious… .
“… I’m sorry for disturbing your painful memories.”
what. That’s not it.
Daphne bit her lip as if she was truly sorry. It seems that I interpreted the fact that I did not tell the details as saying that I did not want to recall the events of that time. When I didn’t respond in embarrassment, Daphne’s face became even more tearful.
“That… I should have thought a little more before I said it.”
The voice creeps in. I’m sorry for Daphne, but I wanted her to know that it was something like that and move on. There was no point in adding further explanations, and it was strange to keep talking about things I had never experienced.
“it’s okay. I don’t care so much anymore.”
Daphne timidly nodded at my answer, followed by an awkward silence. Even though Daphne isn’t very talkative, I’ve never felt awkward when we’re together, but the conversation just made me conscious of this silence. I thought of something and looked around.
“By the way, your magic has stabilized a lot now. I was shaking all the time when I first got it.”
When the topic of conversation changed, Daphne’s expression brightened even more.
“Thanks to Illroy. Until now, I’ve been failing every time I try to cast auxiliary magic on someone else, but when I’m fighting alongside Illroy, I can only focus on Illroy… .”
Daphne, who had been uttering uncharacteristically excited words, suddenly closed her mouth and lowered her head. This time, I worried about what was going on, so I approached Daphne, and Daphne quickly moved away from me. The face that was visible under the light pink hair that was covered like a curtain was dyed the same color as the hair.
“By the way, why doesn’t Illroy use an aura?”
“Come?”
Daphne nodded.
“Most of the other skilled players who use mana to the extent of Illroy use Auras, but Illroy doesn’t seem to be using Auras today even against Gray Bear.”
“ah… , Come.”
I smiled and looked down at my waist. From the tip of the sword to the end of the hilt, a pure white holy sword hung there. Come on, wouldn’t it be possible to form another sword? The amount of mana was sufficient, and he knew how to deal with it. Well, it’s a meaningless assumption anyway.
“It’s not that they don’t form auras, it’s that they don’t form them.”
“Yeah… ? that’s… In case Illroy’s health… .”
“It’s not that I can’t use Auras because I’m the problem, it’s this guy.”
I tapped the hilt of the holy sword and said.
“You can’t put an aura on a holy sword. No matter how good a swordsman I am.”
It is the sword that chooses its master. It is only natural that the sword has an ego, and it is a sword that is as old and powerful as it is. Just as I can’t put an aura on someone else’s arm, there’s no way I can put an aura on the holy sword that forms one’s self.
“then… .”
Daphne’s eyes seemed to ask why she was using a sword that couldn’t have an aura. I pulled out the holy sword and placed it on my lap. No one knows what was used in the blade of the holy sword that glowed pure white. The appearance of the holy sword was far from glamorous. The sword body was a little white, but everything else looked the same as a normal sword.
“You will find out why later.”
I murmured and stroked the hilt of the Holy Sword. I felt a cool texture.
The holy sword is powerful. that’s for sure Even without an aura, it can easily pierce the skin of a gray bear, and it also flows mana that strengthens the user. However, the true power of the Holy Sword does not stay at that level.
‘When will he wake up?’
Please. I sighed as I put the holy sword back into the scabbard.
—
“Yes, you may go in.”
How did you finish today safely? Daphne’s magic gradually stabilized, and as I got used to fighting, the number of monsters I caught increased each time I left. Of course, Daphne hasn’t completely returned to the normal track yet, and I also had anxiety factors, so I can’t be optimistic.
‘… I must work harder.’
“You worked hard today too.”
“Illroy, you did a good job.”
I shared a grueling goodbye with Daphne. It would be nice if there were more shares of pride in that young expression on that face. Just as I was about to move forward with such a simple wish, I could feel someone approaching me and Daphne.
“That… .”
Having caught the identity of the presence, my eyes widened. An elderly man in a black priestly robe was approaching from a distance waving his hand. Daphne next to me slightly tilted her head as if she didn’t know why, while I was silent.
“Hey, warrior. You are here.”
There were only two priests that the hero would know. He could not have been the monarch of the Holy Kingdom or the pope of the Puritan Church, so it was clear that he was the other one.
“It’s been quite a while, isn’t it?”
Bishop Andrew. The one who sent Isis to the hero party. I met the bishop’s thin eyes and frowned.
Well, your Saint followed a mercenary 😂