17. The Two-Faced Woman
After Austin left, the warrior sat down in the clearing where it was already getting dark, quietly watching the sun pass over the mountain with a dejected expression on his face.
“…Hero. Are you all right?”
Seeing her like that, Gracie tried to convey her worries and comforting words to her, but the warrior, who weakly pushed Gracie’s hand away, staggered and stood up.
“…Let’s go back. It’s inconvenient to move around at night. Maya, can you prepare some light source magic?”
At the dry tone of the hero, Maya flinched and shook her body.
Maybe it’s because the hero’s tone, unlike usual, is cold and frosty.
“…Yeah. Okay.”
“Okay. Let’s go back to Cologne. Gracie and I, too, need to repair the broken pauldron.”
The hero’s back as he led the way and walked slowly, somehow looked dangerous.
Seeing the warrior staggering back and forth like grass swaying in the wind, Maya approached the warrior and gently held his hand.
“…A warrior.”
“I… Why did I do that?”
Clutching Maya’s small hand, the hero bowed her head.
“I… I told Austin… A hit…”
From the tails of the hero’s droopy eyes, pure tears began to fall drop by drop.
Because he was fed up with his behavior and attitude towards Austin.
Even so, Austin remained by their side, undeterred by their harsh words and actions.
“…I’m really sorry…I apologized from the bottom of my heart…”
However, Austin eventually left the party.
Because of that fact, the hero hated himself and couldn’t bear it.
“Hero…”
The hero and his companions, taking comfort in such a hero, slowly leave the forest and head for Cologne.
Maya’s light source magic was only doing its job silently, shining brightly on the path ahead of the girls passing through the forest.
* * *
After taking Max as a wild dog, Robin, who was in a bad mood, was rummaging around in Defal’s arms, and I was in the process of chatting with Max as I sharpened my shortsword with a whetstone.
– Saksak
“Yes, my father was an adventurer.”
“Yes. He would always go to bed and tell me stories of his adventure days.”
“…Personally, I’d recommend a crossbow to young people like you… But, well, it’s too much to throw away the experience of using a bow so far… Experience becomes skill, Max. Bone. Write it down.”
“Yes, brother…”
I told them to call me senpai from now on, but it was too awkward for me and Max to call each other senpai, so we decided to stick to the title of his older brother until Max joined the Ranger.
Just as I was about to continue the story about Max and the Ranger, satisfied with the sharpened shortsword blade, Robin suddenly ran up to me and shouted.
“Senior! This bastard has mana stones?!”
“What?! It’s true!!!!!”
I threw away the sharpening stone and shortsword and ran to Robin’s side.
A mana stone! What a windfall this is!!
“Ji… Are these real mana stones? Huh? They’re not fakes, are they?”
She hurriedly asked Robin with her eyes wide open, and Robin snorted at her triumphantly.
“Look at this brilliant color… How can this be fake!”
As Robin and I laughed foolishly, blinded by the brilliant light of the mana stone, Princess Alexis sneaked up to us and began to closely observe the mana stone in Robin’s hand.
“Hmm… The shape of the mana stone is exquisite… The color of the mana is also vivid blue. At this level of purity… It certainly doesn’t look like a fake.”
“Ah…!”
Listening to Princess Alexis’ explanation, Robin let out a short sigh close to admiration.
Why are you making such a fuss about mana stones… Mana stones are basically a super-luxury item among high-end items.
Usually, the Mage Tower or the noble families who have been in the position of wizards for generations have one or two mana stones, and from these mana stones, mana continues to flow like an infinite spring, so the Maetel kingdom selection wizard It is the item that shines in the number one item that I want to have.
The value varies depending on the purity of the mana flowing out of the mana stone and the shape and size of the mana stone, but two fist-sized mana stones protruded from Depal’s pouch!
Princess Alexis, the daughter of the duke, must not have been wrong. Mana stones… That’s real!
“Defal bastard… I will beg the lord to save your life…”
I caressed the sallet helmet of Depal, who was still unconscious, with a faint touch.
“Brother Austin. You must not show mercy to the remnants of the Demon King’s army.”
“You say you cut limbs and stuff them alive, you crazy bastard. Better than that.”
“…It’s a treatment that includes reasonable punishment, so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”
Roymon That idiot.
I shook my head and turned my gaze to the mana stone again.
Yes. If you’re the right hand of a corps commander, you should have at least this luxury item!
“Is it because the western continent has a mana stone mine? The mana stone comes into our hands, but Argyle doesn’t even peep.”
“I think I heard that the fact that the demon king occupied the western continent where the mana stone mine is located is one of the reasons why the war became difficult.”
…I have a mana stone of this size, so wouldn’t there be something more valuable in my arms…?
As I thought about that, I looked into Robin’s eyes, and I saw that Robin was also staring at Depal with greedy eyes.
“…Robin. You think the same as me, don’t you?”
“…Just skip it, senpai.”
Yes! This is a valuable by-product of victory, and a rightfully our share of spoils!
Just as Royman collects the skulls and spines of demons, we…
…No matter how much, isn’t that a bit much?
I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts, and immediately started working on removing the armor from the defal.
Roy Mun is staring at us, but I don’t know what kind of expression he’s making with his iron mask on.
As soon as I undid the leather straps that were fastening the armor, Depal’s gauntlet rolled on the floor.
“While wielding such a heavy spear, his arms are thinner than expected?”
“I see… Is it possible for an artificial human to show efficient movements with fewer muscles?”
“How come your skin is white… Look at how nice your fingers are. How can you not have a single callus?”
It was difficult to determine the exact body shape when wearing armor, but after taking off the gauntlet, I couldn’t help but admire Depal’s slender arms.
When I massaged my arm, I could feel it with my fingers filled with hard muscle rather than soft fat.
“I never thought I’d see compression muscles… In real life.”
Thinking of that, I took off the gauntlet, and Robin was also tearing off the gauntlet on the other side with a whimper.
“No… No, senpai. How the hell did you get this out?”
“…As you said when you were in the ranger, you need to build up some upper body strength.”
“…If I grow my upper body, I won’t be able to maintain such a slender body. I’m a woman too.”
I looked around the gauntlet while chatting with Robin. The gauntlet also appeared to be made of high-strength, very expensive-looking material.
In admiration for the wealth of the demon king’s army, who had taken over the entire western continent, Robin and I moved our arms without rest to take off the stiff armor of Depal.
After receiving help from Royman and Max to remove the shoulder girdle, it was clear that his shoulders were narrow for an adult man.
“…Hey. Is he really a spear wielder? How can a man with such a small physique wield such a heavy spear with such freedom?”
Are you the type that strengthened your body by injecting mana?
Artificially strengthening the body by injecting mana into the body is a magic that is difficult for most knights who use the body or warriors in the avant-garde position, not wizards who know how to handle mana proficiently.
…As expected, the demon lord’s technological prowess cannot be underestimated.
With that in mind, I piled up the stripped armor parts one by one, and it was time to take off the helmet.
“Hey… How did this bastard get his face? Bacchus was handsome enough to make me jealous. Would people who aren’t artificial humans live in sadness?”
“One, two, three, let’s take it off! Come on… One, two, three!”
When I took off Depal’s helmet, the first thing I saw was his red lips.
A tall nose, well-groomed bobbed hair, dense, long eyelashes…
A well-balanced overall beauty with a sharp and cool impression.
After taking off his helmet, the face of a very tall and handsome man like Bacchus…
The face of a handsome man…
…Short hair?
“… Huh?”
“…Uh, what…”
“…What is this…”
Me, Robin, and the others gathered around me also stared at Depal’s face, standing still.
“Ugh…”
We couldn’t take our eyes off Depal’s face, which sometimes twitched between his eyebrows and groaned as if he was having a bad dream.
Depal…
“…Was this bastard woman?”
Defal was a woman…?