Mission No.3 Little Devils (20)
A large-scale war with the dwarves.
“Damn it!”
Felix, who hit the table violently, clenched his fist.
Little devils, dwarves with superpowers who can easily deal with ten adult men with just one person.
50 years ago, a race that disappeared from the ground after completing the mechanical city of Kaselheim.
The dwarves were composed of a population well over 10 million according to the survey conducted while on the ground.
Did they know that Shuheim’s zero-type Dvahur was maneuvering?
Felix gnashed his teeth involuntarily.
‘How did you find out?’
Felix’s eyes, filled with life, moved around busily.
If a large-scale war with the Dwarves breaks out, even the Empire will not be safe. It won’t be defeated, but the last one or two knights will be able to finish the war.
In the first place, the Dwarves would not retreat.
But what if it’s a weaker country smaller than an empire?
I don’t even want to imagine. Any country except the Empire will be occupied within ten days. Enemies holding swords and resisting were all Dwarves who would slaughter, so their army would be annihilated.
Fortunately, there is no looting or massacre?
Felix gnashed his teeth.
Biometric information must be extracted from Schheim as soon as possible.
To do so,
‘We need to recruit more wizards.’
* * *
Day 9 of the Sarmus Expedition.
In the continuous forced march, people and horses are in a state of being turned into rags.
Ebalt, who had good stamina, was sore all over his body, so there was nothing to say about the other members.
It feels like the undead are riding on a horse.
Of course, the words exchanged at the post office three days ago were also exhausted. He is in a state where he has nothing to say even if he bites his tongue and collapses right now. The range that could be covered with potions was far over.
“Soon to be Schhattenberg.”
His voice was so distressed that I almost heard it as a voice saying, “I want to die.”
Fionir, whose destination was groaned by a phlegmatic orc, was swaying on his horse in a half-stunned state.
No matter how urgent it is, I think I should take a day off. Ewald also felt his bones shake.
‘Is it the limit?’
I need to rest unconditionally in Schhattenberg.
Spaa, who lost even the power to grumble at some point, fell off her horse twice, and even Ekrin, the strongest of the crew, had not fully recovered from the symptoms of altitude sickness.
‘Well, no one would have expected that we would cross two mountain ranges.’
As soon as they crossed a mountain range over 2,000 meters above sea level, they immediately passed through a swampy area, and no one could have imagined the madness of crossing a mountain range over 3,000 meters above sea level again.
Still, it’s a miracle that he covered an average of 70 kilometers per day.
If they hadn’t opened their mouths several times a day and shoveled potions into them, these horses might have attempted suicide together on a cliff with a human riding on their back.
And now, I didn’t even hear about the potion’s medicine.
But Ewald didn’t say ‘be patient’ or ‘endure’.
The time for that to work has long passed.
In this situation, the appearance of the city is the greatest comfort and encouragement.
Of course, if a bandit or a scoundrel gets involved in this situation…
“Everyone stop! This road we take… !”
“… Sprenging.”
Wow!
Exactly nine bandits flew through the sky.
Ebalt’s shock wave swept away the ambush bandits, as if the power of magic had not diminished even though he was mentally exhausted.
One bandit, who lost all his comrades in an instant, trembled and raised his sword, but Ewald turned his tired face to the bandit.
“… I might kill you because I can’t control my strength, do you want to fight too?”
“Joe, be careful!”
“… Uh, good job.”
The party descended the hills, leaving behind only the vague sound of trudging horses’ hooves, finally discovering the outline of Schhattenberg, a city at the western end of the Empire.
“… Guys.”
No answer.
But Ewald opened his mouth in a dying voice.
“Let’s drink the potion one by one when we arrive.”
* * *
“Master, Master, if you have something this good, you can come and have a drink!”
Usbel, moved by the potion’s medicine, hopped as usual.
The members of the crew, who were in a dying state covered in dust and filth, were also touched by the grace of the potion.
But Ewald replied with a frown.
“The horse walks, do you guys?”
“I know the potion is expensive, but didn’t you steal it from the high priest anyway?”
“… Are you sure you got it as a gift?”
Of course, when Pedim gave it as a gift, he said bullsh*t about things like marriage gifts.
“Ah yes. That’s right, mister.”
Ewald, wondering if he shouldn’t have given the potion, went to the bath with a face that said he didn’t need it all.
“Let’s have a dinner after packing up.”
* * *
“May I come in?”
“… Was it a facility where permission was required to enter?”
Ewald, who answered Pionir’s absurd question as if it were absurd, scooped up hot water with a gourd.
“Then excuse me.”
The first thing that caught Pionir’s eyes as he pulled back the bathroom curtains was Ewald’s back.
Ewald, who was so tall and had incredibly wide shoulders, had a very wide back,
“Very well, Captain.”
It was full of his hideous scars.
“… I’ll warn you, I’m not into men.”
“Me-not me.”
“I’m glad. Shut up and wash it.”
However, it is a scar that will take away the attention of anyone who sees it.
Wounds that are deep enough to make you wonder if you died and those that are lighter than that remain as scars with the years.
Fiornier, who sat far away from Ewald, poured hot water all over his body and groaned.
“Uggggg… Huh!”
“Are you uncle?”
“… First of all, thirty-four.”
In terms of physical age, he is seven years older than Ewald. This is the age at which aging begins. However, as if to personally demonstrate the conventional wisdom that all wizards are too skinny, Pionir, who had a rather pitiful body, lifted his emaciated face.
“Was it too forced a march?”
“Is the guy who made the route talking like that?”
“… I’ll take some time off next time.”
“Think about the next thing. Are you going to spare yourself when you go to rescue someone?”
“It’s not like that.”
And the conversation stopped abruptly.
In fact, it wasn’t even a situation to chat, so Piornir sighed with a pleasant face, immersed in the quiet atmosphere where the sound of water being splashed faintly could be heard.
“Pionir.”
“Yes, chief.”
Ewald, whose afterimage of Adele remained in his head, continued without realizing it.
“Do you remember when you first learned magic?”
“If it’s a magic word…”
After staring at the wall for a moment, Fiornier laughed involuntarily.
“I remember it clearly.”
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
Ewald splashed water on his head.
“Do you have a good memory?”
“Rather than good…”
Fionir also splashed water on his head.
“I guess I was a little scared. It was complicated.”
“Okay?”
Chew!
“When did you know you couldn’t use offensive magic?”
“Ah, attack magic…”
Chow!
“I think I realized it after about half a year since I was able to use magic.”
Squeak!
“Did you start digging out the rest of the auxiliary magic from then on?”
Splash!
“No. I finished with secondary magic and moved on to offensive magic.”
Empty!
“… What?”
Ewald unintentionally dropped the gourd he was holding.
“Captain?”
From noble mtl dot com
“You said you finished all the auxiliary magic and moved on to offensive magic?”
“Ah yes.”
“In half a year?”
“Yes, yes.”
As he turned his drenched face to Fionir, Balt put a serious gaze on his eyes.
“How old were you?”
“Hey, I was ten years old.”
Ewald jumped to his feet.
“What, Captain?”
“You mastered auxiliary magic when you were ten years old, and even that in half a year?”
“Yeah, by the way.”
“You are a genius!”
It is a face of sincere admiration. Ewald looked at Fionir with a childlike expression.
However, Fionir’s face was strangely distorted.
Fionir frowned at him like someone who had just bitten a bitter fruit, and scratched his head as he quickly let go of his expression.
“When I was 10, I knew that too.”
“But.”
“When did you move over to Class 2, Captain?”
“Seven years old.”
Fionir, who was in serious agony over whether to hit that human in the back of the head with a sudden gourd, only sighed.
“… Did the person who went to class 2 at the age of seven say I was a genius?”
“A genius.”
“I heard that the captain took the 2nd class at the age of seven.”
However, Ewald turned a face that he was not sure about to Peonir.
“Why are you comparing me?”
“… Yes?”
At first glance, it sounded like an arrogant remark, but Ewald replied sincerely.
“I didn’t say you were a genius because you were exceptionally good. I said I was a genius because I was a 10-year-old kid, and I was so amazed at how much I was obsessed with magic for half a year.”
“Yes?”
“… Hey, here comes another guy with a comparative disease.”
“… I’m sorry, boss. Please explain.”
“Do you know what the three most important things to a wizard are?”
“I do not know.”
“Concentration, concentration, concentration.”
‘… Look at this, this genius magic swordsman man. Does it sound like you’re talking about the celestial realm when you talk like that?’
“I thought you’d ask me to look at your current level.”
Pionir with a cold expression nodded his head obediently.
“Hey, Fior. Listen carefully.”
“I will listen.”
“If a 10-year-old child is immersed in one thing and likes to split the head called magic, and masters all the secondary magic in the first class in half a year, then he is definitely a genius.”
“That… Are you running?”
Ewald nodded his head.
“Of course he is a genius.”
“… Aren’t you a genius because you mastered secondary magic in half a year?”
“At all. You mean being a kid and being crazy about one thing for half a year is a genius?”
Does this human have normal thoughts?
Ewald, who gave a new definition of the word genius, with a natural look on his face, as if he had lived alone in another dimension, picked up the gourd that had fallen to the floor.
“Are there any other geniuses? If you love something and enjoy it like crazy and have the drive to devote your whole life to it, then that’s genius.”
“Is that so?”
After regaining his composure to some extent, Fiornier sprinkled water with a light face.
“You’ve heard a lot of geniuses, haven’t you?”
“… It’s embarrassing, but it was.”
“It’s okay to be ashamed. If someone praises you, thank you, then run. Is there any reason to be ashamed?”
Chow!
“… I am proud to say that I have put in enough effort.”
Shoot it!
“Then it’s okay, what?”
“… But the result is only 1 class, isn’t it?”
“So? You’re not going to bite your tongue and die right now.”
I have no intention of doing that at all.
But Fiornier, who had no answer, drew water with a gourd.
“You, start working on some magic tomorrow.”
“Dae, is the captain looking after you?”
“Don’t you like it?”
Can you not like it
The wizards of the existing 8 classes said they would take care of it for themselves, but who would say no to it? Fionir suppressed his pounding chest.
“Let’s look again from the beginning and find the cause.”
Fiorinir couldn’t answer. However, even if it was empty words, my heart thumped at the words that a skilled person like Ebalt would help me with magic.
However, something still lingered in his head, and Fiornier cautiously opened his mouth.
“By the way, what is a comparative soldier?”
“I mean, don’t compare yourself to other people.”
“Can you not compare yourself to others?”
Ebalt stopped the gourd he was lifting above his head and looked at Fionair.
“That’s what being human is.”
Oops oops
“It is an animal that has no choice but to feel inferior to those who are better than it, and feel superior to those who are less intelligent.”
“…”
“Then you’ll have an accident.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Hey, Mr. Pioneer. It’s okay to spill it, so listen to it.”
After bringing out his words with a calm tone, Balt sprayed hot water on his body once again and brought out his words that he had stored in him.
“The only thing humans can compare is yesterday’s self.”