The Battle At Axel

TL: Cannongerbil

Editor: Striker, Xenthur

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Part 1

After parting ways with Lynn, I took Faitfore for a walk around the town while thinking about its defence.

The town of Axel is surrounded by walls, so it’s a fairly formidable defensive structure.

The Demon King’s army would most likely attack from the direction of the main gate. There is a wide plain in front of it, which makes it perfect for maneuvering a large army.

I looked up to the main gate and the towering walls ahead of me.

These thick walls will be the cornerstone of our defence.

Plus, thanks to Aqua-nee-chan destroying the walls with her flood, the walls near the main gate are all brand new, so there’s no need to worry about lack of maintenance or poor quality.

…Is this what they call a blessing in disguise?

Hiding behind the walls is also an option, but that’s only really done when friendly reinforcements are on the way.

The main body of the Demon King’s Army will be attacking the Capital of Belzerg at the same time, so I doubt we can expect any reinforcements.

That leaves us no choice but to meet them at the front gates.

Will we be able to face off against the Demon King’s Army without losing heart? The psychological front would play a huge role in the outcome of the battle.

While I was thinking about that, I somehow ended up outside of the city.

“Hmm, I might as well swing by the warehouse.”

Actually, I have a small warehouse a short distance outside of town where I store my worthless junk, scamming tools, and other stuff that can’t be seen by others.

It was the same place that I hid that Mi… Whatever-his-name-was’s magic sword back then.

There’s a small rock in the forest that, if shifted, would reveal a staircase leading underground. It was given to me by an old client in lieu of payment.

Apparently, the client’s deceased husband had been using it as a hidden basement.

I unlocked the door, and inside was a fairly large space with a handmade bookshelf pushed up against one wall. Apart from that, there were a stack of cheap pots lying around and a stamp with Sir Vanir’s face on it.

“Dust, is there anything to eat?”

“Unfortunately not. Oh, no, that book isn’t for children to read.”

I snatched the book that Faitfore removed from the bookshelf out of her hands before she could read it.

These books are the porn books that I discovered in a hidden room in a dungeon. They were written in a language that no one could read but Kazuma.

Apparently, they are written in the language of his homeland. I gave him a few of the books in return for translating some that I really liked.

Before putting it back on the bookcase, I flipped through it. Yeah, it really is amazing.

“Damn, it really is erotic. These situations are really novel. Where do they even come up with the idea of a drug that increases your sensitivity? I don’t think I’ve encountered such a thing even in the dreams of the Succubus shop.”

I was planning to put them away, but once I opened it, I couldn’t stop myself from reading.

“Hey, Dust, I’m hungry. Let’s go back.”

“I’m at a very good spot right now, so wait a while… Okay, okay, I get it. I get it, so stop biting me!”

I pulled Faitfore off my leg before slipping the book into my back pocket. I’ll finish reading it back in my room.

As I carried Faitfore who was too hungry to move, something occurred to me, so I asked.

“Say, is there anything that will make you give it your all when you fight against the enemy?”

“If I can eat a lot of delicious food afterwards.”

Faitfore instantly answered with the usual expressionless face.

I was the one who asked, but honestly I’ve already guessed her answer.

“Yeah, having a reward waiting for you at the end makes you motivated.”

In that case, how should I motivate the other adventurers?

A reward… Well, it’d have to be that, right?

In order to carry out the plan I just thought of, I headed over to a certain place.

 

I returned back to the Adventurer’s Guild just as the sun was starting to set and found that most of the adventurers in town were already inside.

They are all worried, after all, so perhaps they felt more secure staying in the same place where most of their companions are.

I walked towards a group of male adventurers drinking near the entrance and joined them.

“Sup? You guys drinking?”

“Oh, Dust. I’m not paying for your drinks, so go somewhere else.”

“Hey, hey, aren’t you being a little too cold? And here I was bearing some good news for once.”

I put my hand on the shoulder of the man who tried to shoo me away and said with a smile.

“Yeah, right, I bet you just want me to take part in your newest ‘get rich quick’ scheme or a scam. I won’t be tricked again!”

“Oh, is that so? Well, the Succubi asked me to deliver a message to you, but if you insist, then I’ll just have to enjoy it by myself.”

Just as I was about to leave, one of them stopped me by grabbing my shoulder.

I turned back with an annoyed look, only to see all of them leaning over and giving me looks of rapt attention.

Yep, they bought it hook, line, and sinker.

“No, go ahead. It wouldn’t do any harm to hear you out.”

“Nah, if you don’t want to hear it, I won’t force it on you. Didn’t you try to shoo me away earlier?”

“Sorry, that was my bad. Waitress, one mug here please. This one is on me.”

I put on an act of being happy that I got a free drink and leaned in close to them.

”You see, the Succubi are willing to grant one free dream tonight to all the adventurers who are planning to protect this town as thanks.”

“Really!? You should’ve said so sooner. I just remembered an urgent errand I needed to do, so go ahead and help yourself to my untouched food.”

The people at the table hurriedly stood up and exited the guild.

Fatefore let herself off from my back and happily helped herself to the food that they left behind.

I saved money on food, so it really is a win-win situation.

“Let’s move on to the next one once you’re done with that.”

“Okay.”

I visited the other tables in a similar fashion.

A short while later, most of the guys in the tavern have vanished off to someplace else.

Having completed my mission, I went over to join my companions as our usual table.

“What were you doing? It seems like everyone you talked to all left the guild.”

“I just told them a little bit of juicy information”

“What’s with that. Tell me about it later, okay?”

“Oh, sure. I was planning to tell you anyways.”

Keith seems really interested in it, but Taylor is still as stone faced as ever. This guy should really learn to take it easy from time to time.

“Why are you keeping it amongst the guys? Is it something you can’t tell me?”

“Ah, well, it’s not particularly juicy to women.”

“Oh, I see. I bet it’s something perverted again. Ugh, I can’t stand you guys.”

It seemed like Lynn got the gist of it with just that bit of information.

There’s no way I can tell Lynn about it. There’s no telling what she will do if she finds out.

After I managed to pacify Lynn somewhat with food, Lynn took Faitfore back to the hotel.

The two of them weren’t particularly close when they first met, but they’ve been spending more and more time together as of late. Well, I’m thankful that she’s taking care of her at night.

“So, what was that juicy piece of information you were talking about?”

As soon as Lynn was gone, Keith whispered to me.

“It’s not going to be anything decent, so I’ll be heading back first.”

Taylor left the money for his food on the table before leaving.

“Taylor’s the same as usual, huh. Alright, then, guess I’m going together with you.”

I happily grabbed Keith by the shoulders and started shepherding him to a certain place, which is of course, the Succubus shop.

 

After all my efforts, the Succubus shop was packed to the brim when I arrived.

“We’ll be offering a special service today. For just today, we’ll give you a dream several times more intense than usual for free, so go ahead and tell us all your desires.”

The Succubus managed explained with erotic motions.

A bunch of heavily breathing men took this chance to fill out their forms with their desires and handed them over to the waiting Succubi with red faces.

“So this is it?! Is it really free? I’m running low on money right now, so this is really great!”

Keith excitedly sat up in his seat and looked at the order form in front of him.

As I stood by the wall observing this scene, Loli Succubus slid up to me.

“I know it isn’t right for a Succubus like me to be saying such things, but men really are simple creatures, aren’t they?”

“Lust is the source of all male behaviour.”

Loli Succubus gave me a wry smile at my declaration.

“But is it really okay to give them that kind of dream?”

Loli Succubus stood on her tiptoes in order to whisper into my ear, keeping it from the others.

“It’s fine. The purpose of this exercise is not to let them vent their pent up desires, but motivate them to give it their all.”

“I understand that, but I still have to wonder if that’s really okay…”

She still seems to have some doubts, as she frowned and tilted her head.

“You’ve been asking me for advice on creating lewd dreams, right? I don’t think any of them have experienced such a development before.”

“That’s true, but… I still feel a little guilty… “

Don’t get cold feet at such a late juncture.

I talked to the other Succubi, so the plan should go off without a hitch.

As I looked upon the excited adventurers, the edges of my mouth couldn’t help but curl.

“Heh heh heh…”

“Dust-san, you have a really wicked look on your face right now…”

Oops, my good mood showed up on my face.

I can’t wait to see these innocently smiling and blushing faces afterwards.

 

Part 2

The next day, after I wrapped up training with Taylor and Keith, I headed over to the Succubus shop to check things out.

“Don’t tease me like that! You’ll be giving me the rest of the dream tonight, right!? My beloved Serena-san will be saved after being captured by the orcs, right!?”

“Why did I wake up in the middle of a date!? Hurry up and show me the continuation!”

“Hey, what happens next? I don’t mind if you have to tell me verbally, just please tell me!”

The shop was crammed full of adventurers, each of whom were pestering the Succubi with questions.

“Please continue” was the word on everyone’s lips.

“H-Hey, Dust-san!”

Upon noticing me, Loli Succubus urgently tugged on my sleeve and brought me to a corner of the room.

“Seems like it was a huge success.”

“All thanks to you… Like hell it is! I’ve had customers coming in since early in the morning, all demanding for us to show them the rest of the story!”

Loli Succubus seemed overwhelmed by the unexpected reaction, but this was something I anticipated, so all I could do was grin.

“Wasn’t it groundbreaking? The idea of serialized erotic dreams.”

“I’ll agree on that. The purpose of the dream is to give the customer satisfaction, so we normally give them the whole experience in a single dream. I would never have thought about cutting it off just as things are starting to get good.”

Indeed, I set it up such that their dreams would end just before they would reach their climax.

“Still, it worked really well, didn’t it? This book is really amazing.”

Loli Succubus produced a single book from her pocket.

I loaned the Succubi a large amount of porn books from my stash. That book is one of them.

It seems like these books are commonly sold in Kazuma’s home country.

“My country is pretty focused when it comes to the subject of porn. No matter how deviant or intense your desires, we will have something out there for them. Sometimes other countries even refer to us as perverts.”

Or so he says. Even though it’s just a painting, it’s erotic and sexy. Kazuma’s translations leave some parts unclear, but even so, they still speak to me on a fundamental level.

I chose a few of the books that these bastards would like, and had the Succubi recreate them in their dreams, which eventually resulted in this situation.

“I’m sure you already know, but make sure to continue the dream tonight. It’d be meaningless if they don’t get hooked onto it.”

“I’m kinda afraid that they’ll cause a riot if it continues like this…”

You’ll just have to carefully step around them to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“And, there’s another thing that worries me. A few of the customers want to see the continuation as soon as possible, so they are begging us to visit them when they are taking a nap. It’s a real headache.”

“That’s within my expectations. I don’t think I’ve told you yet, but I’ve already told the other Succubi how to deal with those customers. Here.”

I pointed to a nearby adventurer who was talking to a Succubi.

Loli Succubus immediately got my meaning, and perked up her ears to listen.

“I’ll go take a nap in the stable right now, so please give me the rest of the dream. I woke up just as my honey was about to be taken to the goblin’s cave, and I really can’t continue without knowing what happens next!”

“Dear customer, please raise your head. I’m terribly sorry, but that is impossible. The powers of a Succubi are weakened during the day. Plus, even if you were to fall asleep now, you’d sleep way too shallowly, and most likely, you’ll wake up in the middle of my dream.”

“N-No…”

He slumped his shoulders in a depressed manner.

I understand how he’s feeling. Those porn books tend to have a lot of interesting stories, and I’ve spent many a sleepless night reading them from cover to cover. It’s not unexpected for someone to react that way when it is cut off in the middle.

…Well, I was the one who set it up that way, though.

“Those books you gave us were really interesting.”

“Hey, I didn’t give them to you. It’s just a loan. Don’t forget that. I’ll need them back after everything’s done.”

“…Leaving that aside, for us Succubi, books that are both erotic and interesting are the greatest forms of entertainment. Everyone’s so engrossed with it, they are reading them even when it doesn’t have anything to do with their job.”

For a race of creatures whose job is to dress up erotically and give erotic dreams, those books must be irresitable. Getting addicted to them is only natural.

We’ll keep stalling their dreams like this and raise their expectations higher and higher.

While we were talking, the other adventurers continued pestering the Succubi.

“I can’t do anything about the dreams right now, but we’ve prepared a special present for everyone who’s taking part in the town’s defence.”

“Really? What are you offering?”

“The top performing adventurer will be given, behold, a free pass to our store valid for an entire year.”

“Uwoooooh! I’ll have to do my best!”

With that one sentence, the grumbling and complaints that have been the norm so far were blown away in an instant, replaced with an enthusiastic shout.

“Now, in order to confirm your current level and experience points, may we inspect your adventurer’s card?”

“Eh? Not just before the Demon King’s army arrives, but now?”

“Yes, right now. We would like to compare your current experience points with how it is after the Demon King’s army is defeated. Would it be a problem?”

“Not at all! Go ahead and write it down or do anything else you need.”

Loli Succubus, who had been watching the exchange up till now, placed a hand on her chin and seemed to fall into deep thought.

“Um, if we check the cards now, wouldn’t some of them try to cheat? Like defeating monsters to raise their level before the Demon King’s Army arrive?”

“I’m sure some people would do that.”

“Isn’t that bad? Cheating is no good.”

Loli Succubus placed her hands on her hips and puffed up her cheeks.

Even though you’re a devil, cheating is still no good?

“It’s fine. Have you forgotten what we’re doing this for? We’re resorting to all these tricks to motivate them and raise our combat power as much as possible. If this would motivate them to seriously try and raise their levels, then that is mission accomplished.”

“I see. Making them excited to see the continuation of their dream to get them to exercise their bodies in order to get a good night’s sleep. On top of that, dangling this reward in front of them in order to encourage them to level up… That’s so sly, it’s scary.”

“Can’t you just honestly praise me? Call me a tactician.”

Shouldn’t she be getting impressed by my intelligence right now? Why is she slowly inching away?

With this, we’ve raised both their morale and their levels. We might be able to make it out of this after all.

“By the way, what happened to those Incubi?”

“We took them to some places that were of no importance, then we took them to this shop, and they said something like ‘If all the adventurers were such spineless weaklings, this battle would be a cinch’. Before they left, we told them that we would sap their morale before they attacked, and they actually believed us.”

“Not bad. I always knew you had it in you.”

“Heheh, it’s not a big deal~.”

She says that, but her face is all but saying “Please praise me more.”

That face is a little annoying, but I do need the Succubi to give it their all, so I suppose I’ll play along for now.

“Yo, the number one sharpest Succubus in town! Your body is slim in all the places that matter.”

“Oh, Dust-san, you’re such a charmer… Eh?”

I heaped on the praise onto Loli Succubus and left before she could notice anything off about my words.

It’d be nice if we could catch the Demon King’s Army off guard and inspire the adventurers to greater heights this way…

 

Part 3

Two days after that, I was a short distance away from town, scouting from the air.

“Why do I have to take a man with me for a walk in the sky. It’s a pain in the ass. Come on, get off.”

“If I fall from this height, I’ll die! Don’t think you’re the only one suffering here, I don’t want to be up here with you either. But there’s no one else who can handle Faitfore, so what choice do I have? And I’m the only one who has the Farsight skill in town. Don’t think you’re the only one unhappy with that.”

Keith was fearfully clinging onto my waist as he peered at the ground, but it seems like he still had the presence of mind to talk back to me.

If I had to do this, I would’ve preferred to take a ride with Lynn, but we needed Keith’s skill, so I had no choice.

With this, Taylor is the only one of my companions who has to take a ride on Faitfore. He was really staring at us when we took off.

“So Keith can take a ride. No, It’s nothing.”

He said under his breath, and I managed to catch it. Oh well, I guess I’ll give him a ride next time.

Though, he’s a pretty solidly built guy, so hopefully he wouldn’t earn Faitfore’s displeasure.

“Still, that Faitfore turned out to be a white dragon is surprising and all, but I would’ve never expected you to be that rumoured Dragon Knight. Even after witnessing all this, I still can’t believe it.”

Don’t stare at me like that. Having a man stare at me doesn’t do anything for me.

“Ah, didn’t you notice the genius aura coming out from me?”

“The only aura you have is a dark and dirty one. Oh, I think I can see something down there.”

I was about to start an argument with Keith, but he suddenly fell silent and looked down with a serious look.

I followed his gaze and saw multiple small dots on the surface.

“Should I go a little lower?”

“It’s fine. My Farsight can… Oh. Oh wow, this might be pretty tough.”

Keith started mumbling to himself after seeing what it is, but I couldn’t get any proper information out of him at all.

“Hey, explain it to me in a way I can understand.”

“Ah, sorry. Those are the monsters from the Demon King’s army. There’s too many of them for me to get an accurate count, but it looks to be about four to five times larger than the numbers the guild anticipated.”

Even after they’ve gotten the false information from the Incubi, they still sent such a large force our way. I don’t know if it is because the enemy commander is really cautious, or if they originally sent such a huge force in the first place.

“Hey, hey, seriously? Why are you sending such a large force to deal with a town of beginners? That’s really immature. Can you tell the makeup of the monsters?”

“Hmm, most of them seem to be Skeletons. The others seem to be Kobolds, Goblins, and a bunch of other races. The line is too long, so I can’t really make out the guys in the back. It seems like most of them are made out of relatively intelligent, bipedal monsters. They aren’t moving particularly fast, but at this rate, they should be in front of Axel by noon tomorrow.”

Just one day’s grace, huh?

I really want to fly lower and gather more information, but it’d be problematic if we are discovered.

“If Megumin was here, I bet she’d be able to destroy a good half of them with her Explosion Magic. Ah, why does she have to be away during such a critical time?”

“This is the perfect situation for her excessive firepower. If she knew about this, I bet she’d be very upset.”

If the Explosion Girl was here, she would’ve definitely happily started blasting away with her Explosion.

It’s useless to pine for someone who isn’t here, but still.

“There’s no one else who can use Explosion… Ah, wait, there is one! There is one other person who can use Explosion!”

I shouted, and Keith seemed to immediately get who I was talking about.

“Wiz!” x2

Having come to an agreement, I turned Faitfore around and headed right back to Axel.

 

“Umm, I really want to help you guys, but I’m a Demon King’s General, so I can’t do anything that will stand out. I’m sorry.”

The first thing I did upon entering the magic item shop was to ask Wiz to lend us her Explosion magic, but she apologized to me instead.

“Wait a minute. Isn’t Sir a General, too?”

“What are you saying, penniless customer? What that useless shopkeeper said is no mistake. She’s technically a General of the Demon King. On top of that, she’s not a human, but a lich.”

Hearing Sir so easily reveal Wiz’s true nature, I couldn’t help but doubt my own ears.

Being a Demon King’s General is surprising in itself, but more importantly, a Lich is that creature that’s hailed as the king of undead monsters, right?

“You’re lying, right? And here I thought you were a quiet beauty, one of the few level-headed people in this town who’d probably let me fondle her breasts if I prostrate myself before her hard enough! Dammit, I’ve been tricked!”

I never suspected that a spy of the Demon King could be this close to me.

“T-That’s not true! I’ve only been asked to maintain the barrier on the Demon King’s castle, I’m completely uninvolved in the fighting. So, I have no hostile intentions… Eh, wait, do I really look like a fragile woman who’d easily cave in like that!?”

Wiz was halfway through her anxious denial before her mood suddenly soured.

Now that we know that Wiz is a General of the Demon King’s Army, can I still take her word for it?

“However you look at it, you are a left-on-the-shelf lonely undead who gets full of herself the moment you receive a little bit of praise. Delinquent, there’s no need to worry, there’s no falsehood in her words. She only became a General after agreeing not to interfere with the Demon King.”

Sir Vanir said as he tidied up the shelves, not even turning back once.

Wiz’s true colours and what Sir just said was concerning, but what really drew my attention right now is Sir’s current outfit.

Instead of his usual suit, he was wearing shorts, slippers, and a close fitting shirt. Together with that mask of his, he looks just like the definition of a suspicious person.

I’m at a loss if I should say something or not.

But it feels like the conversion will head off in a strange direction if I ask now, so I decided to keep silent about it for now.

“If you say so, Sir, I’ll have to trust you.”

“Aww, I’ve always wanted to ride a white dragon. I don’t suppose you can give me a ride later?”

“I think it’s fine. Right, Faitfore?”

“Yeah. she always gives me sweets every time, so it’s fine.”

“Fufu, thank you. You can come over to play anytime you want.”

Faitfore nodded without hesitation, still enjoying the tea and snacks.

Seems like Sir and Wiz have her wrapped completely around their finger.

“You wish to ride her? Hmm, wouldn’t that be impossible?”

“Vanir-san, why? You’re not going to tell a lady like me that I’m over the weight limit, are you? I haven’t been taking in much sugar lately, so it should be fine.”

“It’s not a matter of weight. White dragons are strongly associated with the holy attribute. It’s fine when she’s in her human form, but her body will be infused with holy energy when she’s a dragon. Now, then, what attribute is your body again, malnourished shopkeeper?”

“Ah.”

“Liches are undead, right? That means she’s weak to the holy element. Come to think of it, Loli Succubus was saying something about her butt hurting after she rode it.”

“That applies to devils, too. As for undead, you wouldn’t just get away with a little bit of pain. If you stay in contact with her for too long, your existence might disappear altogether. If you are fine with that, then go right ahead.”

“I’ll respectfully decline… We can’t do anything overt, but Vanir-san and I will still assist in the defence of the town, so please be at ease.”

I was relieved slightly to hear that.

“By the way, Moi am no longer part of the Demon King’s army. After losing one of my lives, my arrangement with the Demon King is considered null and void. Therefore, there’s no reason for me to support the Demon King or his army in their efforts.”

So that means that Sir is free to go wild. That’s good news!

“If humans were to be wiped out, Moi would no longer be able to enjoy delicious dark emotions, so there’s no reasons for us to be enemies. Plus, Moi still requires that little brat to continue earning money for me, and it’d be a headache if his mansion in this town were to be destroyed. That said, protecting this town for free would be unbecoming of me as both a devil and a businessman.”

“Can we put it on my tab? I don’t have any money on hand right now.”

“You are always broke, are you not? No, it’s fine. This is an emergency situation, after all. Just remember to pay me back later.”

It’s a pity we couldn’t reduce their numbers with Explosion immediately, but the fact that both of them will help us instead of the Demon King’s army is good enough for now.

 

After leaving the Magic item shop, I headed over to the Adventurer’s Guild, and discovered that it was far noisier than usual.

The waitresses were in a flurry of activity, ferrying food and drinks from table to table.

“Say, why is it so rowdy today?”

I sat down next to my companions and asked. For some reason, Loli Succubus was also seated there, but she has been spending more and more time around us as of late, so I didn’t pay it much mind.

Faitfore untied herself from my back and settled down into a seat next to me, before starting to browse a menu.

“What else? I told Luna about the Demon King’s army’s movements, and then the news was spread to everyone, and this is the result. The guild tavern also offered a half price discount for tonight, so everyone’s busy drinking and partying.”

Keith explained to me as he helped himself to a more extravagant dinner than usual, his face already red from alcohol.

I see, getting everyone’s mood up for tomorrow’s battle, eh?

“Then, can I eat twice as much as normal?”

Faitfore immediately reacted to the word “half price”, staring up at me with upturned eyes.

“Yeah, sure. It’ll get busy tomorrow, so eat your fill and have a good night’s sleep.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

The way she was eyeing the menu as she ordered her food made me worry a little, but I think I’ll ignore it for now.

“Now, then, I’ll have a full meal myself. I really want to go to a better restaurant and have pretty girls serve me… But I think it’s still impossible.”

Just getting close to a modestly well endowed waitress put my body on edge.

“Hey, now, you’re not still traumatized by orcs, are you? Ahh, how pitiful.”

Keith shrugged his shoulders and snickered.

This guy… I really should teach him a lesson.

“It’s your fault for throwing me into that situation in the first place! I demand compensation! What are you going to do if I get a phobia of women because of this!? If I say goodbye to sex at such a young age, what else do I have to look forward to!?”

“You should just live your life properly. But, fine, I do feel bad about it, so I’ll pour you a drink at least.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll give you some service too. Here, say ahh~.”

“Faitfore will do it too.”

Ooh, Lynn poured me some beer, Loli Succubus brought the food to my mouth, and Faitfore pushed one of her dishes over to me.

Well, if they are going to go that far, I suppose I can forgive them.

“Dust, you seem to be in a better mood. But, didn’t you have a phobia of women? So why are you fine with those three? Just what is different between them… Ah. Ahem. I see. Sorry, pretend I didn’t say anything.”

In the middle of his sentence, Tyler made a sudden realization and coughed before looking away.

I immediately picked up on exactly what he noticed, but I know full well what kind of bad results would happen if I pointed it out, so I kept quiet.

Actually, I’ve already made a mistake in front of Lynn. There’s no way I’m going to repeat the same mistake.

But the drunk who couldn’t read the mood clapped his hands together in realization and said with a drunken slur.

“Oh, I see, they don’t have breasts like orcs, so they don’t feel like women to you, huh!? Fuhahaha, I get you.”

Keith broke out into raucous laughter.

Conversely, the expressions of Lynn and Loli Succubus turned completely dark. As for Faitfore, she doesn’t seem to understand the situation at all and dumbly looked between the two of them.

“Oh, hey, what’s going on? Hey, now, I’m still drinking my beer, so don’t suddenly pull me up like that? What, are you afraid to go to the toilet by yourself? What’s with those scary expressions of yours?”

Lynn and Loli Succubus silently grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside.

“Seems like we’ll be losing one of our numbers tonight…”

“It can’t be helped, Keith brought it upon himself.”

Loud flashes of magic and the screams of a certain man came in from outside the guild, but Taylor and I shut our eyes, covered our ears, and pretended not to notice.

After a short time, the two of them returned back to the tavern with a much brighter expression on their face. Keith is nowhere to be found, but it’s best not to question that.

“You two should stop doing stupid things and hurry up and get some rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

“I know. Everyone will be busy tomorrow. This could be my last meal for all I know, so I’m going to eat as much as I want.”

My declaration came out at the worst time, just as the guild happened to be quieter than usual.

As a result, everyone in the room fell silent.

“…Hey, don’t just stay silent.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! We’ve been careful not to speak of that for this entire night, and you just have to say it out loud!”

“Learn to read the atmosphere, man! This is why you’re so unpopular!”

“Men who can’t tell the difference between what they can say and what they can’t are the worst!”

The adventurers around me bombarded me with vicious words.

“You bastards sure love to shoot your mouth off! I was trying to leave it be… Ouch! Who was it who tossed that dish at me! Fine, I can’t take it anymore! Let’s fight it out right here, all you small fry who wouldn’t even make a good warmup, bring it on!”

“Kill him!” x5

The people who were provoked by me charged at me all at once. I took my spear with the tip securely in it’s sheath into my hands and charged straight into the fray.

 

Part 4

When I came to, I found myself on the floor of the guild.

“Why does it feel like this happened to me before…”

Looking around, I noticed the sleeping bodies of several adventurers around me. Did everyone collapse out of exhaustion after the great fight?

I tried to raise my upper body, but my arm felt oddly heavy. I turned down to look, only to see Faitfore sleeping soundly, using my right arm like a pillow.

I don’t feel like waking her up now, so I carefully slipped my arm out of her grasp.

It’s still dark outside. Doesn’t seem like dawn has broken yet.

On closer inspection, Keith and Taylor were also asleep by the door. Only Lynn is nowhere to be found.

The people I was fighting with were sprawled out across the guild floor, sleeping soundly. I had the urge to stomp on their faces, but I held that urge back as I left the guild.

“Brr, it’s cold.”

From the position of the stars and the colour of the sky, it should be getting close to dawn.

As I made my way over to the main gates, I spotted a familiar looking figure staring at the walls.

“What are you doing up so early? Heading to the bathroom? Need me to go with you?”

“You know… Can’t you say something better as a greeting?”

Lynn looked over with an exasperated look.

Normally she would’ve scolded me more severely or started blasting magic at me… She’s surprisingly level-headed today.

After letting out a sigh, she turned around, placed her hands behind her back, and started walking along the wall.

I silently followed after her.

“Everyone seems much more refreshed after duking it out with you. They looked so uneasy beforehand, but now they’re all sleeping soundly.”

“Seeing them sleep without a care in the world really makes me want to drive a foot into their face, right?”

“Of course not… Did you say all that on purpose to make everyone feel better?”

She suddenly turned around and stared at me with upturned eyes.

My face blushed by reflex upon seeing the closeness of her face. The surroundings are dark, so she didn’t notice that, right?

“Of course not. They are just getting upset over nothing. They also pissed me off a little, so I just went all out for a bit.”

“Oh? Well, fine, if you put it that way, I’ll leave it be. Things did work out in the end, so I suppose I’ll praise you a little.”

Lynn flicked my forehead with her finger before jumping back, hopping on one leg.

That gesture was so cute that I couldn’t help but be fascinated for a bit.

“Anyway, how are you holding up? You seem to be caring a lot about other people as of late.”

“Me? I’m at the top of my game, obviously. I’m in tip-top shape today too. If you want, we could head to that alley and test it out.”

“Ahahaha, do you really want me to cut it off?”

“It’s a joke! Don’t brandish your dagger at me!”

Remembering what happened in the stable that one time made a certain part of me shrink.

“A lot of things happened when we first met, didn’t it? You almost died in that field──”

“I didn’t die! I came in to save you guys when you were in a pinch, remember!?”

“Is that so? I don’t remember anything like that.”

She says that, but she’s grinning all the way. She most definitely remembered it.

From that day onwards, we’ve met almost every day… Well, I did spend quite a bit of time in the cells, but we’ve been together ever since.

To be honest, it is true that I kept seeing Princess Leonor in Lynn’s face and projecting that image of the princess over her.

However, I don’t know exactly when, but somewhere along the way, I stopped seeing Lynn as a substitute for the Princess and began seeing her as her own person, and soon I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.

Her personality, her way of speaking, and her little gestures captivated me.

When I was by her side, I didn’t need to be the straight laced knight Rein Shaker, but the freedom-loving adventurer Dust. That above all else put me at ease… And made me really happy.

“No matter what happens, I will definitely protect you.”

I took a deep breath and uttered those words.

Lynn’s eyes widened, and she stared at me for a while before letting out a small “pfft.”

“Ahahahaha, what are you saying? It doesn’t suit you one bit. But, well, I guess I’ll look forward to it.”

“Tsk, is it really that funny?”

I looked away from Lynn as she wiped the tears from her eyes and sulkily kicked the ground.

I genuinely said it, but she took it as a joke… I now understand the importance of acting like a good person on a daily basis.

“Oh, come on, don’t sulk. I’ll give you a little advance payment for protecting me.”

“Ah~, what…!?”

Lynn suddenly brought her face close to mine and brushed my cheek with her lips.

It’s not mouth to mouth, but it’s the second kiss of my life.

“Eh, ah, L-Lynn!?”

I was too taken aback by this unexpected action that my words couldn’t flow properly.

“You’re a little more motivated now, right?”

The sun began to rise behind Lynn as she gave me an unblemished smile.

It was the same smile that mesmerised me a long time ago.

Ah, I see. I was defeated by this smile.

“Of course! Just wait to see my accomplishments!”

 

The adventurers were lined up in front of the plains a short distance away from the main gates.

All the adventurers in town were present.

Most of them were familiar, though every so often I would catch a glimpse of a new face.

Those were the people the guilds of the other cities sent our way as reinforcements and any friends that the adventurers managed to call upon.

Normally, when a town is about to be attacked by the Demon King, a far larger contingent of adventurers would gather to defend it, along with a large portion of the country’s soldiers, but as the rumours suggest, the Demon King’s army is also attacking the capital at the same time.

Between the town of beginner adventurers and the capital of the nation… It’s obvious which one would receive greater priority.

In other words, we won’t be receiving any more reinforcements.

“Still, it’s an impressive sight, this many adventurers gathered together.”

Keith, who climbed up a tree in order to take count of our forces, quickly realized that there were too many of them to count and crossed his arms in admiration.

“I might get some anger saying this, but I feared that there would be quite a few adventurers who’d flee before today. However, not a single one has fled. The noble spirit of those who stayed in town to guard Axel and the weak really touched me!”

Taylor said through tearful eyes, but most of them didn’t stay behind for such a noble reason. Taking a good look at their lust-filled eyes could tell you that.

“If you achieve great things in this battle, I could win a free ticket for the entire year! With that, even if I don’t have a girlfriend, I wouldn’t have to fear doing that alone in the stable!”

“I’ll definitely make it back alive… There’s no way I will die without seeing the continuation of that scene in my dream! I can’t believe I woke up just as my lover was about to be attacked! This is the greatest mistake of my life!”

“I still can’t believe it… I can’t believe I had such a kink… What was that joy I felt in the middle of humiliation and anxiety? I swear I won’t die until I figure it out!”

That’s what the guys who were breathing heavily were saying.

Lust sure is a great motivator, huh? I was the one who stroked their desires like this, but maybe I might have overdid it a little.

And, with all respects to Taylor, but I don’t think the people in town could really be considered weak.

“Everyone, do your best~! I’ll be giving everyone some freebies once the battle is over~!”

The ones who were gathered in front of the gate and offering encouragement in a high pitched voice are the Succubi.

They were dressed much more modestly than back in the store, but even so, they extruded an aura of unmistakable erotism.

The guys up front immediately softened upon hearing those voices. What an easy bunch to understand. Well, I don’t dislike such people.

The male adventurers are full of motivation, and as for the female adventurers, they were also full of fighting spirit.

Of course, I had a plan to motivate the female adventurers as well. The reason the female adventurers are so motivated is because of the rumors I put out these past few days.

Adventurers are predominantly male. It is an occupation that involves frequent combat with dangerous monsters, so of course males would have an advantage with their stronger bodies.

However, magic and skills can bridge the gap in physical abilities, so there are quite a few female adventurers who are stronger than any male.

Kazuma’s party, though a bit of a mess overall, are near unbeatable in their field of specialization.

That said, the job of an adventurer is still thought of as being cruel and dirty, and is definitely still thought of as being a job for men.

Parties with three women like Kazuma’s are the exceptions amongst exceptions, and even having just one woman in the party like we do attracts much jealousy from the other adventurers.

However, in this town of beginners, the number of female adventurers is far higher than that of other towns. It is a much romanticised job, after all, and both sexes are equally prone to dreaming of striking it rich.

That’s why I spread a certain rumor around in order to motivate the female adventurers.

“This is just between us, so don’t spread it too far, alright? Do you know that Kazuma is looking for a wife?”

“Wait, hold on, tell me more.”

I slid my way into a group of women having a drink, and they almost chased me away with a disgusted look on their face, but all that disappeared the moment I brought up the subject.

“He’s been saying that he wants to quit the dangerous job of an adventurer and hole up for the rest of his life, hasn’t he?”

“He does say that whenever he gets drunk, yeah.”

The others nodded in agreement.

“So I heard he’s planning to retire for good after defeating the Demon King, and he looks forward to living a slow and peaceful life. He’s set away quite a large sum of money, so I’m sure he won’t be troubled by money for the rest of his life. I really envy him.”

“The bounty for defeating even one Demon King’s General is pretty large…”

“And, you know, he paid the cost of rebuilding the entire wall that Aqua-san destroyed up front…”

“I heard he made a fortune with that shady masked man who works at the magic item shop…”

The female adventurers huddled together and started whispering amongst themselves.

Looks like all I need is a little push and they’ll take the bait.

“But Kazuma already has those three with him. If he wants a wife, he’ll probably pick from one of them, right?”

Well, anyone who sees how the four of them interact on a daily basis would surely think that.

“Hey, now, you’ve got to be kidding. Think about it, one of them is a little brat with a head full of nothing but Explosions. The other one has a nice body and high status, but she’s a perverted crusader. And the last one is an Archpriest of the Axis Cult. The only thing she does is party at the bar and rack up debts. If you were in Kazuma’s position, would you really want to marry them?”

“…No way.”

All of them seem to have come to the same conclusion.

In truth, Kazuma and Megumin seem to be awfully close lately, but I don’t know any details about that.

“So, think about it, if Kazuma triumphantly returns after defeating the Demon King, wouldn’t it be nice if he could fall into the gentle arms of a motherly woman after such a physically and mentally grueling battle?”

“Those three are all beautiful, but considering their personalities… There’s a chance!”

“If it works out, it’d be really great for us. It’s certainly worth a shot.”

“Kazuma isn’t used to women, so I feel like he’ll easily fall with just a bit of gentleness and some bodily contact!”

“Right? You girls are quite good looking and have your own charms. Plus, you know, if he finds out that you girls defended his home from damage… You know what I’m getting at, right? Oh, this round is on me. Drink up.”

I showered them with praise while providing them with alcohol.

I repeated this conversation with several other groups in the guild, lighting a fire under the female adventures.

As a result, the rumors spread far faster than I expected, and the eyes of the mostly single female adventurers changed completely.

Though, I made a slight miscalculation and the rumour spread not only amongst the female adventurers, but also to the guild staff and waitresses.

…Perhaps I went overboard.

“What’s with that glassy look in your eyes? Are you getting cold feet now?”

“Of course not. I’m just praying for the safety of my faraway friend.”

Sorry, Kazuma. Do your best when you get back. There’s nothing more I can do.

With the Demon King’s army approaching us, I can’t stay here feeling sorry for my actions forever.

“H-Hey, I can see the Demon King’s Army!”

Along with nervous shouts, the people capable of using the skill “Farsight” began gazing off into the distance.

I could only see blurry dots, but the people with the skill reacted with surprise, and some of them even dropped their weapons in shock.

“Keith, what’s the situation?”

“They look far scarier on the ground than when scouting from the air. Can we really win this?”

Not even Keith, who had seen them in person before, could hide his nervousness.

Those who saw them for the first time are clearly in disarray. All the underhanded means and brainpower I dedicated to boost their morale were wiped away in an instant.

“It really was reckless after all. That isn’t the kind of enemy we could defeat on our own.”

“Dammit, I was planning to fight to the end here, but it really is scary…”

Pessimistic words started spreading all around me.

As the Demon King’s Army approached, those words started getting louder and more frequent.

“What are we going to do, Dust? At this rate, nevermind winning, we won’t even make it to the fight.”

Outwardly, Lynn doesn’t seem to be too fazed by this development, but the hand she used to grab my arm was trembling slightly.

“Don’t worry, I thought something like this would happen, so I already prepared something in advance!”

I raised my right hand in a swift motion and looked over to the town walls.

Standing there was a single wizard, gazing out from the ramparts into the oncoming wind.

“Oh, isn’t that Megumin over there!?”

I shouted in a loud voice and pointed towards her.

The adventurers around me followed my prompting and gazed in the same direction.

“I can’t see it clearly from here, but that outfit is definitely the crazy explosion girl!”

“Didn’t she head towards the Demon King’s castle together with Kazuma? Did they teleport back or something?”

“Wait, doesn’t something seem a little strange about her? She seems to be far taller…”

The adventurer’s amazement seemed to outweigh the fear of the Demon King’s Army, and they started whispering amongst themselves.

I quickly left the scene and used a hidden ladder behind the main gate to climb the wall, crouching down so as to not be seen by anyone on the bottom. As I approached the Megumin like figure… Sir Vanir and Loli Succubus were also standing there.

“Sir, and Loli Succubus, what are you doing here too?”

“How could Moi miss such a ridiculous show? Moi shall take a good look at the face of the troublemaking shopkeeper as repayment for all the trouble that she causes me on a daily basis.”

“I’ll always be at the side of Sir Vanir.”

So Sir came here to observe, and Loli Succubus is her usual stalker self. Well, they don’t seem to be planning to get in the way, so I’ll leave them be.

“Right, Wiz, how long are you planning to stay frozen for? Please do as we rehearsed.”

I said towards the frozen Wiz, and she stiffly turned her head around to face me, the rest of the body seemingly rooted to the spot.

Her face was bright red and her eyes were teary.

“Dust-san, isn’t this skirt too short!? No matter how you look at it, asking me to wear Megumin-san’s clothes is too much! They are so tight, it feels like they’ll rip if I move too much.”

I asked Loli Succubus to prepare some clothes that looked like the ones that Megumin wears, but it seems like they weren’t large enough to fit her.

They were so tight that every curve on her body was clearly visible, making her look really erotic.

“Sorry, that’s the only size I could find. Don’t worry, Wiz-san, there are people out there who like this kind of thing too!”

“Fuhahaha, to see a grown unmarried woman of quite substantial age wearing the clothes of a teenage girl, Moi has partook in quite a rare sight today. Fuhahahaha. Perhaps you should try wearing that outfit in the store.”

Hearing their words, Wiz trembled in embarrassment.

“Dust-san, do I really have to do this? Isn’t there some better way?”

“You’ve already dressed up like that, so what are you saying now? I prepared those clothes specifically because you said you didn’t want to be recognised by the Demon King’s army.”

“I did say that, but this is…”

It seems like she has gotten cold feet after seeing herself in that outfit.

Well, it’s not like I can’t understand how she’s feeling. That outfit doesn’t suit her at all. Still, there is a strange allure to her embarrassed reaction, so I suppose it’s not too bad.

“Sorry, but there’s no time to waste. The enemy is getting closer by the second.”

“B-But…”

She squirmed uneasily while holding onto the hem of her skirt.

As much as I wanted to take my time and enjoy this situation, there really wasn’t any time to waste.

“Wiz, I’m sure you know, but if you fire an Explosion into that army right now, it will surely deal them a great blow. However, the only two people in this town capable of using Explosion are you and Megumin, so if someone were to use Explosion, it must be one of those two people. We brought those clothes for you specifically so they wouldn’t recognise you.”

“I’m well aware of that. But do I really have to say it…?”

“Of course, we can’t go anywhere without you saying it. Come on, there’s no time to hesitate. They are almost upon us.”

I pointed in the direction of the approaching monsters.

Perhaps finding her resolve after seeing that, Wiz took a deep breath and extended her staff.

“M-My name is Megumin! The Crimson Demon’s… Umm…”

Wiz trailed off in the middle of her sentence and glanced my way.

Sir Vanir seemed to have expected this, and produced a cheat sheet from his sleeve with the lines written on them and held it up for Wiz to see.

“Thank you, Vanir-san. The Crimson Demon’s most incompetent businessperson! One who causes nothing but trouble for her companions and is destined to end up a destitute woman!… Wait, was that how it was supposed to go?”

Sir, don’t take advantage of the situation to make her say a bunch of nonsense.

“Nevermind that, hurry up and do your thing. They are waiting on you.”

“Y-Yes. Explosion!”

The spell Wiz casted created a glowing sphere that flew towards the center of the Demon King’s army before exploding with an impressive bang, throwing up large clouds of smoke and dust along with sending the bodies of the monsters flying through the air.

“Wow, as expected of Wiz. That’s about forty percent of them wiped out, I’d say.”

Explosion Magic is frequently thought of as a joke spell, but I suppose it’s not completely useless if it’s capable of doing this much damage with a single shot.

“That seemed to have worked well. Now I’ll go with Vanir-san to secretly reduce their strength while keeping myself hidden.”

“Moi shall put in enough work to pay for the spectacle you’ve just given me. There’s also the contract with you to consider, as well.”

“I’m counting on the both of you.”

After picking up the clothes she had stashed away in a corner, Wiz jumped down from the walls. Sir Vanir quickly followed suit, and the both of them disappeared from sight.

“I’ll help Vanir-sama too- Hey, why are you grabbing my arm? Let go of me, I won’t be able to catch up with Vanir-sama like this!”

Loli Succubus tried to follow Sir Vanir without a moment’s hesitation, but I stopped her.

“Your place isn’t there. I need your help here.”

“I don’t wanna! I get shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and dizziness whenever I’m not with Sir Vanir!”

“That’s definitely an illness, so let’s go see a doctor. Come on, stop saying stupid things and come with me. By the way, you have no right to refuse.”

When I tugged on her arm, she stopped struggling immediately.

And, for some reason, she blushed bright red and followed me without complaints.

“Aah, you’re so forceful. But I don’t hate that forceful part of you.”

“I don’t really care about your preferences, but I need your strength here, it’s not something I can ask anyone else to do.”

When I said that, Loli Succubus looked down for a moment, seemingly deep in thought about something before suddenly raising her head again.

I don’t know what was going through her mind, but she stared straight at me.

“Are you saying that I’m the only one who can do it?”

“Yeah, you are the only one I can turn to.”

“Oh, if you are going to go that far, very well! I’ll do my best for you this once, Dust-san.”

She confidently said while puffing out her non existent chest before grabbing me and pulling me along.

I don’t know why she’s suddenly so motivated, but it certainly saves me the trouble of trying to convince her.

 

Part 5

“Heeeeeey!! This isn’t what you promised! It’s cold! The air here is really cold!”

“What did you say!? I didn’t quite catch you!”

I responded to the faint scream that came from behind me, and a screamed “Liaaaaaar!” came as a reply.

Turning back, Loli Succubus was tied with a rope around her belly, her face completely blue after being buffeted by the wind. The other end of the rope was tied to Faitfore’s tail, and with her superior speed, was dragging Loli Succubus behind her.

“Slow down a little bit.”

I said while stroking Faitfore’s neck, and the wind that was buffeting me calmed down somewhat.

“You said I was the only one you could ask, so why are you treating me like this!? Is this how you sweet talk women, use them as much as you can before dumping them out like trash!?”

“What are you saying? You are the only one who knows Faitfore’s true identity and can fly, so there’s no way I can ask any of the other Succubi for this.”

“In that case, at least let me sit behind you like the last time! Why are you treating me like a human kite!?”

She crossed her arms and pouted, showing off her anger.

…She’s not actually panicking at all, is she?

“You’ll probably fall off if you’re unsecured. Seriously though, why is everyone so eager to ride Faitfore?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Having a prince on a white horse is every maiden’s dream, and riding a white dragon is the next level above that.”

“Is that so?”

It didn’t seem like anything special to me, but evidently the self-proclaimed maiden doesn’t see it that way.

“Leaving the kidnapping aside, what exactly do you want me to do?”

“Kidnapping? You really are… I only need you to do one thing, and that is to spread false information to the guys down there.”

Right below us are the countless monsters of the Demon King’s army.

We are flying quite high up above them to prevent them from noticing us, so they just look like dots to me.

“An infiltration mission? That makes me sound like a spy. But, what should I tell them?”

“First, tell them that the Explosion Magic from earlier consumed a lot of her magic power, so she’s currently resting and waiting for it to recover, but the second strike is coming in a few minutes.”

“…What’s the point of telling them that?”

“In group warfare, numbers are everything. If the entire army were to charge in all at once, even the strongest warrior will get taken down. And we are critically outnumbered. So, in this situation, what do we need to achieve victory?”

“We need a really strong person to help us out!”

I’m surprised she could so confidently say something that sounded like it was thought up by a child.

Though, I can’t say she’s completely wrong. There do exist people in this world who are so strong that no amount of number disparity can match. That Mi… Whatever guy with the Magic Sword is one of those people.

“I wouldn’t have to work this hard if we had someone like that on our side. And there’s nothing we can do about that. That’s why we need to split them up into small groups in order to defeat them individually. That’s what that lie is for.”

“Umm, if another Explosion is coming their way… Oh, I see! If they are all grouped up together when that happens, they’d become a perfect target for it!”

She clapped her hands in recognition after finally chancing onto my rationale.

The Explosion did hurt their forces, but that’s just the prologue. My true objective is this. If we are able to disrupt the enemy’s ability to command their troops, our victory is practically assured.

“We don’t necessarily need to kill every last one of them. Monsters typically have low intelligence and operate primarily on instinct. After seeing so many of their friends blown away with powerful magic, they will surely be in a state of panic. Now, what do you think would happen if they were told to split up into small groups and take independent action?”

“…They’ll run away.”

“Exactly. That’ll probably cause a large number of them to leave the battle. Don’t you think our chances of victory would be much higher if that happens?”

“Dust-san, I don’t know if I should call you smart or dastardly…”

“Don’t praise me so much, I’m blushing.”

“No, that’s not really a compliment… Right, I’ll head over to the commander and do my best to spread these rumors.”

“I’m counting on you. But don’t do anything rash. If you feel like you are in danger, just run.”

“Sure~.”

Loli Succubus waved her hand and slowly descended towards the ground.

I can only pray that this plan will work out.

“Alright then, there’s stuff we need to do on our side too. Right, partner?”

I stroked Faitfore’s neck, and she leisurely closed her eyes and leaned into it.

I retrieved the spear I had on my back and looked straight ahead.

There were several objects making their way towards me. I narrowed my eyes on them, and soon made them out to be the same Incubi that I met the other day.

“Sup. Isn’t a white dragon super bad? I was so worked up this morning, but now I think I’m going to wilt. Oh, aren’t you the young man from back then? What’s going on here?”

Of course, they still talk in the same annoying way.

“Long time no see. How have you been?”

“I’m doing really well~! No, wait, like, I really would like you to give me a proper answer.”

His tone might be the same, but his eyes are a different story. He’s completely on guard against me.

“There’s no reason for me to tell you anything. It’s not like you’d be able to tell anyone what you heard here, so what’s the point?”

“Oh, that’s some bold words from you. Don’t underestimate us just because we are carefree and pretty all the time. We might look like this, but we are considered pretty strong warriors back on our island. Right, guys!?”

“We are the strongest!” x3

All of them whipped out a set of folding spears and came right at me.

“What are you talking about? No one is stronger than us!”

“Roaaaaaaar!”

In response to my words, Faitfore spat fire from her mouth.

The flames spread out in front of her, engulfing several of the Incubi. The one who were caught in the blast were quickly reduced to a crisp, falling to the ground without a single scream.

“This is bad! Spread out and surround them!”

They hurriedly tried to change their heading, but all they did was give me new openings.

Faitfore spun in a half circle on the spot, and I used the momentum to aid in my spear.

My swing cut two of them in half, and Faitfore took out another three with her tail. In a single move, We’ve taken out more than half of our foes.

“Hey, hey, you’re kidding me, right!? What is with this strength!? How could a mere human command a dragon so perfectly like it’s an extension of his own body!?”

That’s obvious. Faitfore and I are two of one mind!

“It’s up to you if you want to act shocked during a battle, but do you really have time for that?”

Faitfore spread her wings wide and flew at high speeds towards the enemies in front of us.

The Incubi were too shocked to make a move, and my spear thrust through them one after the other.

The remaining foes hurriedly raised their spears, but it’s too late!

Showing off our superior aerial mobility, we circled around to the rear and took them all out before they had the chance to even react.

“In such a short time… You’re… Kidding me… How strong…”

The last Incubus whispered with shocked eyes before slowly falling to the ground.

I swung my spear to shake off the blood on it.

“That takes care of that… Hey, now, I didn’t recall ordering seconds.”

I would’ve liked to believe that the only aerial troops they had were the Incubi, but reality isn’t such a gentle thing.

A group of winged monsters like harpies and manticores were heading towards the town.

“Partner, we’re charging straight in!”

“Roaaaaar!”

Before they could notice my presence, we charged towards them at breakneck speeds.

 

“Pant, pant, phew. You can do it if you put your heart to it.”

I charged them in order to break them up before they were fully formed up, and managed to fight them off somehow, though I’m pretty much completely spent right now. I would really like to rest for the rest of the day, but now is not the time for that.

“How is the battle going on their side?”

After making sure that there were no more enemies flying in the sky, we started descending.

As far as I can see, the battle isn’t going too badly.

The Demon King’s Army is mostly dispersed, perhaps believing the rumours that Loli Succubus spread amongst them. In the confusion, quite a few of the monsters were fleeing in the opposite direction.

“Even so, we’re still outnumbered… Wow, it looks like they’re doing really well on that side.”

Small flashes bloomed along the eastern flank of the Demon King’s army, which were quickly followed by several explosions.

I got closer to check out the situation… Only to find a one sided slaughter taking place.

“What’s with these strange masked clay dolls!? Don’t let them grab on to you! They’ll self-destruct!”

Numerous clay dolls were running around on the battlefield, grabbing onto any monsters they could find and exploding when they did.

“Dammit, that mask is mocking us! If letting them grab you is bad, then just smash them first!”

“No, you idiot! Don’t do that!”

The monster swung his club at an approaching clay doll. The moment it made contact, the doll exploded, destroying the club and sending the monster flying as well.

“These guys aren’t particularly fast! Get some distance and take them out with ranged attacks… Brrr, it’s cold! I-I can’t move my legs!”

“My legs are stuck to the ground! What is going on!?”

The monsters who tried to run away from the dolls found themselves futilely struggling in place.

“Is that… Ice?”

I thought the ground looked oddly shiny, but it seems to be the ice on the ground reflecting the sun’s light. And the ice seems to be gluing the monsters feet to the ground.

“The only one who can do such a thing… Is her, right?”

Those clay dolls were probably made by Sir Vanir. I know he created similar ones to guard his cave.

And the ice was created by Wiz’s magic. I heard that she was a renowned Archwizard known as the Ice Witch back when she was still adventuring, and seeing this sight, I have no choice but to accept it.

“Wiz’s magic freezes them in place, and Sir’s clay dolls blow them up. That’s quite a devious combination.”

In this chaotic battlefield filled with screams and the sounds of battle, everyone is too busy running to notice us flying around in the air. I spotted the two of them hiding behind a boulder some distance away from the battlefield, so I headed over and landed behind them.

“You really are something, Sir, Wiz.”

“Oh, Dust-san. We’re doing really well on this side. Casting Explosion used up most of my mana, so I don’t think I’ll be able to do much else apart from this.”

“Hmm, it’s a little unsatisfactory. Using the Vanir-Style Death Ray on them would be the fastest way to take care of them, but it’d be a problem if my identity was revealed. Still, taking in the dark emotions of the monsters isn’t too bad.”

“Looks like you have it well under control. Then, I’ll leave it in your capable hands.”

I got back onto Faitfore, and my body was once again surrounded by a floating feeling.

“Don’t worry about us. Dust-san, please take care too.”

“You’re not destined to die just yet. Until you pay off your debts, dying is prohibited for you.”

Wiz seemed to be genuinely worried for me, but Sir seems to be hiding… No, those are his true feelings.

Sir is a Devil, so he might actually show up in hell to collect if I die with my debts unpaid.

I wasn’t planning on dying in the first place, but now I have one more reason to avoid death.

Leaving this flank to the both of them, I headed over towards the main gate where the main battle was being fought.

 

Part 6

A fierce battle was taking place in front of the main gate.

Against goblins, kobolds, skeletons, and other small fry monsters, the adventurers would have an advantage in a one on one fight.

This might be the town of novice adventurers, but there are actually very few weak and helpless newbie adventurers here.

In particular, the male adventurers gain strength particularly easily. Of course, that’s because of the existence of the Succubus shop.

The process goes like this. Newbie adventurers would be told about the existence of the Succubus shop by their seniors. Then, after experiencing it once, they would throw themselves into their quests in order to earn enough money to pay for the services.

In the process, their levels would steadily increase, and they would be newbies no longer.

However, they’ll be unable to leave the Succubus shop, and continue staying in this town.

As a result, there are a large number of mid-level adventurers living in this town.

In other words, the adventurers in town are all quite skilled.

“Still, the ones standing in the back would be trouble.”

Most of the monsters in the vanguard are small fry trash that can easily be taken care of, but the ones in the rear are all high tier ones that could hardly be called small fry.

There were advanced zombies, Undead Knights wielding swords and clad in armour.

A giant horned humanoid creature, Ogres.

And there were also a few rock golems and ox-headed Minotaurs amongst them.

They are quite formidable, but fortunately there doesn’t seem to be too many of them.

“There aren’t any Orcs there… Right? Phew.”

I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when I couldn’t see any female Orcs. I really don’t want to see them again. My body starts trembling just by remembering them, and I can’t even imagine fighting them from now on.

I would like to head straight to where my companions are and join them in the fight, but it’d be troublesome if I just appear on the back of a white dragon.

Having my past exposed isn’t great, but the most important thing is Faitfore.

If word gets out that there’s a white dragon in Axel, there’s no doubt that it would attract the kind of scum who would lust for valuable white dragon parts.

“There’s no time to think about such things right now. Let’s just land over there first.”

I directed Faitfore to land in a forest not far from Axel.

After returning to her human form, I carried her on my back and rushed straight to the battlefield.

“The glorious me is here to help!”

I shouted out to the people engaged in battle, and──

“Where the hell have you been slacking off all this time? You’re still loafing about at a time like this? You really are the worst kind of garbage!”

“I’ve misjudged you! No, wait, there’s nothing about you to misjudge in the first place!”

“He must have been chasing after some female monster because human girls don’t pay him any attention! That must be it!”

They are all bruised and battered, but it seems like they still had enough energy to shoot their mouths off.

Dammit… I bet they’ll piss their pants if they knew how hard I worked behind the scenes.

“You don’t even know how hard I was working! Stop mouthing off!”

“Why don’t you tell us exactly what you were up to!? It’s probably all lies anyway, and we are busy, so summarize it in ten words or less! Go on!”

“Yeah, yeah! Tell us the truth and be killed by us, or lie to us and be thrown into the enemy camp as bait! Make your choice!”

“I’ll die either way!”

I’m seriously considering attacking them from the back before taking out the monsters.

As I was trembling with anger, someone placed a gentle hand on my back, and I turned around.

“Don’t get angry, Dust.”

“We know how hard you’ve been working. Isn’t that enough?”

“You don’t want to reveal your true identity, right? Good work out there. How did it go?”

My companions were comforting me with a smile on their face.

…Well as long as my companions understand, that’s good enough for me.

“Well, there’s no time to talk about it here. It’s fine if I wait to tell you the story until after we kick the asses of all of them, right?”

“Sure.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Don’t put in any weird embellishments, okay?”

After gaining my companion’s understanding, I lead the charge straight into the enemy center.

The adventurers who saw us begin our assault opened a path for us.

The closest enemy to us was a bunch of bipedal dog-like creatures, Kobolds.

Taylor was the first one in, charging straight into where the enemies are most closely packed with his shield at the ready.

“Uwoooooh! I’m your enemy! Come get me!”

He struck his shield with the pommel of his sword and used the skill Decoy to attract the attention of the enemy.

“Ha, you’re wide open!”

I took the opportunity to move around to the side of the enemy and thrust my spear into their vulnerable flanks.

A few of the Kobolds came to their senses and rushed at me from behind, but I didn’t even bother to look their way.

With the sound of something cutting through the air, the Kobolds approaching my back fell to the ground.

“I won’t let you two hog all the spotlight.”

Keith, kneeling on one knee, flipped his bangs in a way that I’m sure looked really cool in his head.

Seemingly acknowledging our strength, one of the Kobolds let out a howl, which the others responded to by forming up around him, weapons at the ready.

“Great, just as we planned. Fireball!”

Lynn’s spell landed right in the middle of the gathering of monsters.

An explosion of flame and smoke engulfed them, and the smell of roasted meat began to fill the air.

She got around ten of them with that one attack.

Unlike Kazuma’s party, my party doesn’t have super strong abilities that are second to none.

However, we have the trust and understanding that has built up after spending so long together. On top of that, Taylor, Keith, and Lynn aren’t the same people I met way back when. They’ve grown along with me.

“Oh, not bad! We aren’t going to lose either!”

“There’s no telling what they’ll say about us if we perform even worse than Dust! Everyone, put your backs into it!”

“We’re going to get better achievements than Dust! We won’t get rewarded if we fall behind!”

The other, invigorated by our success, pushed deep into the Demon King’s Army.

“You humans are getting carried away! I will not allow myself to be defeated in a fight against mere newbie adventurers!”

Seemingly irritated by our onslaught, one of the undead knights swung his sword around and declared. It was a fair bit larger than the other knights, and his equipment is also particularly high quality.

Undead Knights, to put it bluntly, are a straight upgrade from zombies.

It was surrounded by undead, so it must be the frontline commander.

“Stop your futile resistance, fledgling adventurers who are too weak to be called to the capital’s defence! I shall avenge my master, Beldia-sama, right here!”

Did he say Beldia just now?

I heard that name before. If I recall, he was that Dullahan Demon King’s General that attacked this town in the past. He was the one who took residence in the castle outside town and was driven insane by Megumin’s troublemaking tendencies.

In the end, he ended up getting purified by Aqua.

“Hey, you! Upgraded Zombie!”

“Don’t call me a zombie!”

He heard my call and spat back.

He’s an undead, so I can’t read his face, but I can tell that he was staring at me with his lifeless eyes from behind that helmet.

If he’s the commander, then taking him out would definitely throw the army into chaos. The problem is, how do I get to him with the army of undead in the way?

Even if I wanted to defeat them, there’s way too many of them. It wouldn’t be easy to clear a path through them. If only there’s a way to get him to come over to me…

“Is there something you want from me, pitiful being that clings so desperately to life?”

He’s quite the arrogant bastard, isn’t he?

“You’re calling us pitiful and all that, but if you’re an undead, that means you must’ve been a human once, right?”

“Indeed. I did indeed use to be a pitiful being like you. However, I was reborn as an undead and discarded the pitiful shell that is humanity. I am a superior being that’s free of all desires.”

Seeing this corpse prattle about with such arrogance made my blood boil a little, but I should be able to exploit his pride.

“Oh, great undead, there is one thing I wish to ask… Since you no longer have any desires, does that include sexual desires, too? Actually, can you even use that thing after becoming a zombie? It didn’t drop off after you rotted, did it? Hahahahah!”

“Stop it, Dust. Undead creatures don’t need to eat, sleep, or lust. I wonder what they even live for. Oh, my bad, they are already dead! Ahahaha!”

Keith caught on to what I was trying to do and quickly joined in, clutching his belly as he laughed.

“…Vulgar men full of lust. It is really regrettable that my master was killed in a town inhabited by such lowly adventurers. My underlings, go ahead and destroy these vile, lowly beings.”

He seems visibly angered by that, but he only gave instructions to his underlings and made no moves of his own.

His face is completely dead, so it’s hard to judge, but considering his words and actions, he’s probably just a short push away from snapping.

“You sure are spouting a lot of arrogant stuff from a safe place. You aren’t scared, are you? Why don’t you try being a man for a change and lead your troops properly? Ah, you know what, nevermind. Please stay away from me. Your body smells so bad I think I might retch if you come any closer. Right, Lynn?”

Lynn seemed surprised when I addressed her, but she quickly caught on to what I’m doing after I gave her a nod. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a moment before responding.

“Even monsters need to take care of themselves, you know? You look to be a high ranking member in the military, but that means you need to pay extra attention. Do you know what odor harassment is?”

“It stinks. It stinks.”

Lynn and Faitfore pinched their noses and frowned.

“Don’t say he stinks. He’s an undead, of course he would stink. Please forgive my companions for their rudeness.”

Taylor gently admonished the two and politely apologized, but they seemed to have the opposite effect on the undead knight, whose body began to tremble.

“M-My men and I are all undead. As such, none of us have a sense of smell! There’s no one who would care about such things!”

“Ah, that’s why. I was wondering why your unit was so isolated and none of the others wanted to get close to you. So this is why. Well, I understand, no one would like to get close to that stench. Right, you guys?”

I threw the conversation to the Kobolds that we’ve just been fighting, and they moved away, wrinkling their noses and averting their gaze as they did.

They didn’t say anything, their actions clearly conveyed their thoughts. Kobolds are dog-type monsters, so they have a heightened sense of smell. I’m sure this stench is unbearable to them.

Seeing their reaction, the undead knight fell to his knees on the spot.

“I’ve felt isolated from the other races several times in the Demon King’s army, but I’ve always told myself that it was just my imagination! I didn’t realize it was because of this stench! Is this why I can’t get along with Kobolds!? Even though I had several dogs at the mansion before I died!”

It seems like it affected him more badly than I expected.

“I’m starting to feel sorry for him. Dust, you should apologize for going too far.”

“Y-Yeah, of course. Don’t take it too seriously. You know… your body might be rotten, but that doesn’t mean your mind is too, right?”

After I gently reassured him, the undead knight silently stood up.

“Guaaaaaaaaah!! How dare a mere human humiliate me so thoroughly… I’ll send you to the other side with my bare hands!”

The undead knight swung his sword, and his underlings silently parted, opening a path between the undead knight and us.

“You four who’ve humiliated me, come forth and fight. Or drop everything and prostrate yourself before me. Know that if you draw your blade, we will be fighting to the death.”

“Four against one, huh? We sure are being looked down upon. Don’t regret this now.”

This idiot fell for our provocation and came rushing out.

“You are the one who’s looking down on us. What are you doing carrying a toddler with you on the battlefield? You should put her down and hurry her to safety.”

“That’s very kind of you, but there’s no need for your concern. There’s no way you can even scratch me. Oh, I see what you’re trying to do. You don’t want to look lame when you lose, so you want us to go all out against you. Is that right?”

“Dust, you should learn to read the mood. It’d be too embarrassing for him if he were to lose to someone carrying a toddler on his back, that’s why he’s asking you in a roundabout way.”

“Yeah, that would look bad. Sorry, sorry, I’ll drop her off.”

As I pretended to put down the struggling Faitfore, the undead knight drove his sword into the ground.

“Enough! Step right up! If you keep shooting your mouth off, I’ll make sure you’ll never talk again. You shall experience first hand the swordplay that impressed even Beldia-sama!”

Oh, he got really mad. If he wasn’t an undead, his face would probably be bright red right now.

“You guys, we’re going serious from now on. He’s probably the commander of the army, and he seems quite strong. So if we defeat him, the situation would definitely turn in our favour. Let’s go all out and make him cry.”

“He doesn’t look tasty at all.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice. With such a large audience, this is the perfect place to get some achievements.”

“Leave the defence to me, you guys just focus on the attack.”

“Don’t get caught up in my magic.”

My companions replied calmly.

They were acting the same as usual without a hint of panic. They really are a reliable bunch.

The other adventurers are desperately fighting to keep the enemy away from us, so for their sakes too, let’s finish him off.

Taylor and I stepped forward, shoulder to shoulder.

The undead knight’s weapon is a greatsword, without a shield.

First, Taylor raised his shield and approached his opponent with swift steps. I stayed behind him to observe his fighting style.

“Useless struggles!”

The Undead knight swung his sword in a large swing, and Taylor took it with his shield. Seeing his movement temporarily stopped, I judged it to be a great moment to charge in, but the body in front of me suddenly disappeared.

“Graaah!”

Taylor growled as he slid across the ground with his shield still up. Was he sent flying by that attack? Looking closer, there was a large dent in his shield, and small cracks were beginning to form all around it.

“Are you alright!?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But that strength of his isn’t normal.”

There are several key differences between humans and zombies, namely, they have no sense of pain, they are far stronger, and most importantly, they stink.

He was probably quite strong even before he became a zombie.

“Hang in there! Snipe!”

Keith’s arrow rushed towards the knight’s face, but it was deflected by the flat of his blade.

He fired three more arrows at him, but all three of them were blocked.

“Fire is a staple against the undead. Fireball!”

Lynn’s fireball landed on target, but the undead knight emerged from the resulting flames with nary a scratch.

“Your firepower isn’t bad, but you’ll need far stronger magic to be able to burn me down.”

Does he have magic resistance too?

“Still, you guys are stronger than I expected. I had thought there was no need to bring this level of force to bear against a town of newbie adventurers, but it seems like I have to rethink that.”

“So why don’t you pull back and gather more reinforcements?”

“It’s a tempting proposal, but the main force of the Demon King’s Army is currently attacking the capital together with the Demon King’s daughter. There are no more forces that can be sent our way.”

The information that Princess Leonor gave me wasn’t wrong after all.

The part worth noting is that the enemy doesn’t have any reinforcements. All we have to do is to repel the enemy right in front of us, and we’d be done. Simple enough.

“There’s another reason I can’t retreat. Now that many of the Demon King’s Generals have been defeated and their seats left open, if I were to achieve great results here, getting a spot as a General wouldn’t be out of the question. Getting the same position as Beldia-sama… No, if we are the same rank, he would simply be Beldia, wouldn’t it? Kuhahaha!”

He placed his hand on his forehead and arched his body backwards, mocking his supposedly respected boss.

…After saying all those things, he sure does change on a whim.

“You say humans are vulgar creatures full of lust, but you are obsessed with gaining power yourself!”

“Shut up! How can you understand us undead, creatures who’ve lost the three great desires!? I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, and it won’t stand up! What’s wrong with pursuing wealth and power when I’ve lost all that!”

It seems like all his daily resentment had pooled up within him, and the way spouted out his true feelings is somewhat painful to watch.

But it seems like his thoughts are shared with his undead, the surrounding zombies and skeletons nodded sympathetically. Seems like it isn’t easy being an undead either.

“Looks like you finally broke… But I don’t dislike that. Rather than being a saint with no desires, having a little bit of humanity is far better.”

“You… are a far more amiable person than I thought. Had we met under different circumstances, we might actually get along.”

“Ah, that might be true. I would’ve loved to have a drink with you.”

The undead knight and I looked at each other and shyly rubbed our noses.

This place overflowed with a warm feeling that didn’t suit a battlefield at all.

Just then, a sharp shock suddenly hit me from the back.

“Ouch! What was that for!?”

Turning back, I saw Lynn waving her wand around.

“What, the two of you can understand each other now? Stop creating an atmosphere that will make it harder for us to kill him. You too, you’re pretty high ranked in your army, right? Get it together already.”

“I’m sorry.” x2

The undead knight and I said in unison.

“Now that she’s pissed off, there’s no helping it. Come on, let’s go.”

“I almost forgot my position for a moment, but let’s do it.”

After regaining our composure, we readied our weapons.

He raised his greatsword, while I lowered my center of mass and exhaled.

As my companions and the Demon King’s Army’s soldiers looked on with abated breath, I was the first one to make a move.

I stepped forward and thrust my spear from outside the range of his greatsword.

Speed, power, and footing, all of them were perfect. My spear shot out with lightning speed… and plunged straight into the undead knight’s stomach.

“You did it! Dust, great job!”

My companions and the surrounding adventurers cheered, but I didn’t have the time to respond to them now.

That’s because the undead knight was gripping the hilt of my spear with his undead strength while staring straight at me.

“Not bad. If I was a human, you would’ve won!”

“You deliberately walked into that, didn’t you!?”

Before I had the time to regret falling for his trap, he swung his greatsword down towards my head.

I wanted to let go of my spear and jump back, but it’s already too late.

“Dust──!”

Just as Lynn shouted, just as everyone looked away, expecting the worst outcome──

“Do it, Faitfore.”

“Un.”

Faitfore placed her chin on my shoulder, opened her mouth, and let out a blast of flame.

The undead knight received the blast head on and rolled around on the ground in agony.

“Aaaaaaaah! I’m burning!”

“I’ll put you out of your misery.”

I pulled out my spear and swung it at his neck, beheading him.

The burning head rolled around on the ground, before stopping at the feet of his underlings.

As it did so, all the undead around us stopped moving. He really was commanding them after all.

“What a pity. Underestimating my partner is the reason why you lost.”

…I actually only recently learnt that she could spit fire while in her humanoid form, but there’s no reason to bring it up.

I raised my spear towards the sky and struck a victory pose.

With this, a loud cheer rang out… no, wait, it didn’t.

The whole place was silent, and everyone who was busy fighting just a moment ago stopped and stared silently at me.

What’s with that look?

“… I thought he was about to hit Dust, but he ended up burning instead?”

“Yeah. Why did he suddenly start burning? Did Dust pull some kind of trick or something?”

“The little girl on his back was moving around, and it looked like she was on fire for a moment… Hmm…”

Everyone was looking at me with suspicious looks.

This isn’t good. No one seemed to have gotten a good look at when Faitfore breathed fire, but they are definitely suspecting something. There’s no way I can let them know about Faitfore’s true form. How do I get out of this?

Is there a convincing way to explain how he suddenly caught fire… would there even be such a thing?

“Say, Dust, did that girl just breath──”

“Wah! Thank goodness the spell came in on time! It came in at the perfect time. Thank me, my spell saved your life. Wow, it was a pretty great strike, if I do say so myself. Yeah, I’m pretty good when I put my mind to it.”

Lynn came in and interrupted the adventurer before he could finish his question.

She spouted out her words with rapid fire quickness, not allowing the adventurer a word in at all.

“Eh, but, that girl──”

“Yeah, yeah, now is not the time for standing about. We need to take out all the undead that became immobile. Come on, get to it!”

“O-Oh, yeah!”

Lynn forcefully interrupted him and issued instructions, and the adventurers rushed to take out the undead who were rendered immobile after the loss of their leader.

Seems like this area is taken care of.

“Thanks for the help, Lynn.”

“You always lie without a second thought, so don’t clam up at a time like this. Seriously, you really can’t make it would me.”

“Y-Yeah. I’ll be counting on your help in the future too.”

“Leave it to me.”

Lynn puffed out her chest and gave me a joyous smile.

As I looked at that beautiful face, someone bit me on the head.

“Hey, cut it out, Faitfore! My brain isn’t tasty! Stop chewing on it! What if I go bald!?”

“Dust, your face looks really bad.”

I pulled Faitfore off my spit covered head, before tossing her some of the hidden rations I had on me in order to calm her down. It should keep her in check for now as she chewed on them.

“After we’ve cleaned this place up, we can march on the enemy headquarters──”

“W-What’s with these guys! They suddenly started running!”

“H-Hey, wait! They are heading towards town! Someone stop them!”

“Dammit, the others are in my way.”

Just as I began to feel safe, we were interrupted by a set of sudden screams.

I looked in the direction of the noise, and noticed that a portion of the undead suddenly started moving and surged towards the town. To make matters worse, a group of ogres took advantage of the chaos and rushed into the town along with them.

“What the hell! Aren’t they supposed to stop moving after we defeated that guy!?”

“Kukuku, you’re too naive, humans.”

“This voice is!?”

A familiar voice came towards me from the ground.

I searched for the source of the voice, and after a brief search, I managed to determine that it came from the detached head of the undead knight at my feet.

“You are such fools for falling for my act. I’m not actually an undead knight, but a Dullahan! So even if you take my head off, I’ll be perfectly fine!”

“That’s what’s going on. You really got me good.”

“Your looks of surprise were really something to behold. Though, even if you defeated me, all the undead would simply revert back to following their instincts and go wild… Um, what are you doing?”

I silently approached the head and raised my spear.

“What else could it be? You could’ve simply remained silent and played dead, but you had to go out of your way to provoke us. I’m simply delivering the final blow.”

“Um, you know, uh, attacking a frail and defenceless detached head is a violation of human rights…”

“Corpses don’t have human rights!”

Silencing the detached head is nice, but there’s no way I can just leave the ones who ran into town be.

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Sorry for the long delay. I expected to be able to finish this in time for the regular release, but certain real life issues made that a lot more trickier than I anticipated. I’m really sorry for the delay.

As for chapter 3, I cannot give any concrete details on when it will be released. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get it out within two weeks, but given that I’m starting work on it right now and my current circumstances, there’s really no telling when it will be ready. Once again, I’m really sorry for the delay.

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