43 - Battle of Episode 41

The surprise attack failed, and the grinding process began. Well, it's a good thing that it's not a total waste of time, since it's an experienced opponent.

I gave up, and as I was steadily cutting away at the wall while running around, Rich came to talk to me, perhaps because he had hidden himself and had more time to spare. Are there many types of undead that talk to you?

"Why are humans here? What do they want?"

At any rate, it would be embarrassing to lose to someone without a brain in his head, even if we were to exchange words. I don't see the benefit. I'll just ignore him for now. I broke out in a cold sweat when the general zombie tried to talk me out of it. I'm not fighting with my mouth anymore.

"Are you alone?　You mistake courage for recklessness. Fools who fight unwinnable battles, die with regrets. I will make you my servant.

That Rich. He calls himself "I". Did he say "I" before he died?　Or did he start using it after he became rich and came out on top? ......I'm intensely curious, but if I start talking I'm sure we'll get into an argument before I know it, so I'll just bite the bullet and ignore him.

"You. Can't you at least answer me?

When I ignored him, Rich started to get angry. It's amazing how the undead can be taught manners in this other world. If you're going to be polite, you should go to heaven when you die. That's common sense before courtesy. I grumble to myself as I try my best to chip away at the wall of flesh.

"d*mn! Wearing funny armor and wielding a huge weapon. Are you really human?　It's definitely a life form, why don't you answer me?"

They even started to suspect my race. None of your business.

"Cool armour!"

"Cue cue cue."

"You're blind."

The Belles are unusually indignant at having their masterpiece disgraced. I wonder if I should be angry here at ....... No, let's not. I've never seen my whole body, and I'm going to regret it later if I carelessly get involved in this topic.

Dodge incoming magic and arrows as much as you can, and if you can't, let the wind wall do the rest. If a sword or a spear comes at you, smash it with the weapon itself. So far so good.

He swings his hammer, ignoring all the questions from Rich. ...... What's that?　I can't hear Rich anymore.

"Yuta. Stand back and defend yourself."

I don't know why, but this is the first time Sylphy has called out to me in battle. I'll do as he says. I keep my distance from the group of enemies and hold my hammer in front of me as a shield.

"Wa, wa, don't ...... ignore ...... me!

At the same time as Rich shouted, a huge black flame was created and exploded with a roar. The entire fort shook and the wind wall broke. Hot air blows and fragments of broken rock hit the natural armor. Good thing I had my armor ...... on. Sorry the belles ...... didn't like it.

When the blast subsides, the floor is gutted, the walls are crumbling in places and there are holes in the ceiling. ...... Rich's out of his mind, and he fires a powerful spell at us without even thinking about the collapse. ......Are the undead with intelligence short tempered?

If we weren't on the ground floor, we'd be in big trouble, that's for sure. When you fight against the intelligent undead, you have to consider the mood of your opponent. That's a pain in the ass.

（Belle. Wind wall again, please.)

（Yes. Fuhheki.)

The blast seems to have cut off a lot of the opponent's wall. Let's try our best to chip away at it again.

How are you alive? It was a direct hit!

The more noise Rich makes, the easier it is to see the target. We're almost there. We're down to our last numbers, and mages and archers are fragile when they get close. It's a piece of cake now.

The numbers are down and we can finally see the lich. ...... skeletons in tattered robes and wands. The difference between a skeleton and a skeleton is. He has pale flames in his eyes. It's a powerful flame of resentment.

"d*mn. I thought some hero or heroic hero had attacked us... but it's just a poor man in funny armor wielding a hammer. I don't get it."

Leave him alone!

Oh. I told you. If I'm starting to look good for Rich, it means he's starting to look good for me. But I'm not poor. I'm normal.　　　　

"Hmm. You can still talk. Why don't you answer me? Are you afraid of me?"

"I don't call myself ....... Do you think it's cool to call yourself "me"?　How old are you? You can only say "I" when you're a child. You can't say "I" until you die. .................. pfft."

Okay, I've said what I've always wanted to say. Now all that's left to do is to take them down. Rich is kind of angry, and he's unleashing his magic in all kinds of crazy ways, but the more bullets he has, the weaker each one is, and his aim is weak.

We'll use the hammers and the wind wall to block the ones we can't avoid, and then we'll approach the lich in one fell swoop. Rich kept looking at me and yelling that he would never forgive me and that he would kill me until I smashed him with the hammer. I'm afraid I'm going to be ...... cursed.

I'm a little scared and the remaining knights, mages, and archers attack. I pull myself together and kill all the remaining demons.

"Ah. It's over!"

"Yuta. I'd say thank you for your hard work, but you've been too unstable in this fortress. Let's rest later, get the magic stone and get out of here."

What?　...... something happens to me, stones are falling from the ceiling area. The walls seem to be making strange noises. Conclusion. It's pretty bad. I quickly put away the magic stone of the lich and the staff that was safe.

Find the skeleton general and the general zombie and retrieve the magic stone. Then I go out to find the skeleton knights, mages, and archers whose magic stones are easy to retrieve.

"Whew. I feel relieved now. I was wondering if I should recycle the materials from the fort, but it's impossible in this situation. Tulu. Can you bury it?"

"Yes, I can."

I'll take care of it then."　

As usual, Tulu magically poured dirt into the ground, but halfway through, there was a gurgling sound and the ground caved in. The fort has collapsed.

"Tulu. The fort collapsed. Thank you."

That's a relief. I wash my smelly self all over, take out the magic stones and wands I retrieved, and hit wash after wash. I don't feel so good if I don't clean up.

"Belle. Rain. Tulu. Thank you so much for this armor. Thank you. Can you take it off when you're done?"

"Yes. Yuta, that was cool!"

"Cu-cu-cu."

"The armor is cool, too."

As Bell and the others put their hands on their armor, the earth and water were swallowed up by the ground, and the wind dissipated and disappeared. It is hard to tell from the outside, but there was the sound of several objects hitting the body during the explosion.

Thanks to the armor, there was no impact, but without the natural armor, I might have been injured. Protection is important. I will definitely buy some armor when I get to town. But I guess Tulu still feels bad about Rich's disparagement of his armor. I'll give him another pat on the back later.

"So, Yuta. What happened to the levels?　There were quite a few of them, so I think they've gone up quite a bit."

"I'll check it out now."

We took down a lich and two generals. There were as many knights, mages, and archers as there were zombies and skeletons in the other hives. It should be a good thing.

Name: Yuta Morizono

Level 45　

Strength B　　

Magic B

Power B

Intelligence B

Dexterity A

Luck B

Unique Skill

Language Comprehension

Pioneering Tools　

Skill

Life Magic

Hammer Technique

night vision

Oh, the ninth level is up. Your magical power is now at the desired rank of B. Now we don't have to go into the nest of the undead anymore. We can now start our comfortable life in the town!　But what bothers me is that it's all B's except for dexterity. Is it possible for status to increase so much on average?

"Sylphy. His level went up and his magic is now B-rank. Now we can make a contract!"

"Congratulations. Yuta. You did a great job.

Sylphy is happy to see me with a big smile on her face. I can't thank you enough for all the help you've given me and for all the times you've helped me ....... I have to give something back.

Thank you. I could not have done it without Sylphy's help."

"Hmm, I had fun too, so don't worry about it."

"Well, I'd like to thank you somehow. Is there anything I can do?"

I have no idea what I should do to thank the spirits.

"Hmm. I don't know. Well, you don't have to do anything too hard, just try your best to fulfill Dine and the others' conditions, okay?　That would be a sufficient repayment for me."

"I was originally going to do some pioneering after I went to town, so it's no problem for me to keep at it, but is that really necessary?"

"Yes, that's good enough."

You seem to be having a lot of fun, and you seem to mean it, so is that a good thing?　Well, okay. If you find yourself short, just find something else to do that pleases you.

"What does this have to do with the sanctuary Nomos was talking about?"

"Yes. Well, we don't know what's going to happen next, so I'll let you know when we decide."

Hmm. So you're not telling anyone here either. Sanctuary. I'm curious, but at this rate no one's going to tell me. I guess I'll just give up and let the questions die down.

"Okay. I'm looking forward to it. So I'm looking at the stats and I'm wondering why everything is ranked B except for dexterity. Is this average growth?"

"Let me see."

I show Sylphy the status and she confirms it.

"Yuta is still growing in every status. In such a case, the higher the rank is, the wider the range of the next rank is, so the statuses are averaged out. So it's a good thing that the growth hasn't stopped."

I remember you saying that before. I see that now everything is within the range of rank B except for dexterity, but if it stops rising or something, there will be some variation.

"Will we know when the growth stops?"

"The range is so wide above B that it doesn't go up very far. In those cases, he wants to know his own limits, so that he can use that as a basis for when he moves up a level."

For example, you can check the limit of the weight you can lift, and when your level goes up, you can increase the weight and challenge yourself.

It's quite a hassle, isn't it?

"Yes, it is. It seems that everyone is just doing it by themselves except for those who care about the details, so I don't think Yuta should be too concerned about it either. Since you can sign a contract now, why don't you sign it here?"

Oh, man. I'm getting nervous.