Book 3: Chapter 73: The assassin praises

After seeing Snake off, I ran to Tarte and Dia.

Then, when they found me, they rushed to my side and addressed me.

[Lugh-sama, your magic was incredible! It was like a beam of light!] (Tarte)

[Nngghh…! Even though we developed it together, it’s frustrating that I can’t use it myself.] (Dia)

Tarte’s eyes were glittering, while Dia looked dissatisfied.

She was displeased that she couldn’t use this magic herself, even though she worked so hard to develop her masterpiece.

We had a hard time developing【Railgun】.

In addition to being a pretty delicate spell, it required the simultaneous use of three different types of magic, making it difficult to adjust, and Dia worked really hard on it.

Even before I was given【Multiple Chanting】through【My Loyal Knights】, I already had the concept itself in mind, and at that stage, I had intended to divide the roles among several mages.

The original plan was that I would set the temperature of the wand that would serve as the railgun to absolute zero, Tarte would convert the mana into electricity, and Dia would reduce air resistance. If we performed those at the same time, we could use this magic without【Multiple Chanting】.

Since we’d been practicing for that moment, Tarte learned how to use【Lightning Strike】.

Should I ever lose the power of【My Loyal Knights】, the three of us would operate that weapon.

[I’m sure you’ll also be able to use it soon enough, Dia. Your mana pool is still growing, right?] (Lugh)

[It’s infuriating because although I’m doing my best every day, it’s not getting any better.] (Dia)

[Well yeah, I’d been developing mine since I was two years old before I finally reached my current level after all. No need to rush it, just keep it up.] (Lugh)

Dia’s mana control and formula construction speed were better than mine.

However, her absolute amount of mana was regrettably not enough for her to cast the three spells required to use the railgun at the same time.

This could only be improved little by little over time.

[I realize it in my mind, though.] (Dia)

[You can’t use【Railgun】, but you can use that other one, right?] (Lugh)

[Yeah, but that one’s not much different from【Cannon Strike】.] (Dia)

What we meant by ‘that one’ was a railgun that had been scaled down to match Dia’s mana pool.

By using Fahr Stone powder instead of a whole stone, I reduced the amount of mana that needed to be converted, making it a general-purpose magic that Dia could handle.

I also made a separate wand for that.

In terms of firepower… The amount of energy it possessed wasn’t much different from【Cannon Strike】, but it was more than powerful enough for pinpoint-precision shooting with the same firepower as【Cannon Strike】, but at supersonic speed.

[One day, I’ll create a spell only I can use for sure. It’ll be something with terrific precision that’ll require lots of processing power. I always feel frustrated because of my lack of mana, so you should get a taste of that feeling too… You’ll see how mortifying it can be when there’s some incredible magic right in front of you, yet you can’t use it. Fufufu…!] (Dia)

[Can’t wait to see it.] (Lugh)

Truth be told, I was sure that Dia would make one.

A highly difficult magic spell that could only be used with Dia’s genius mana control.

In her case, Dia hated anything superfluous. This level of difficulty was necessary, and the magic spell should be equally worth it.

I was excited to see what kind of magic she would create.

[Tarte, are you feeling alright? You seem to have overexerted yourself quite a bit.] (Lugh)

【Beastification】took a heavy toll on the body. Not only that, but she even took a drug and fought to the very limit of her transformation.

She acted like she was fine, but she had to be considerably drained.

[Y… Yes, just a little tired, but I’m all right.] (Tarte)

So she said, but her legs were shaking and she was sweating a lot.

Even standing up had to be tough.

…I guess she was also experiencing the side effects of that drug.【Rapid Recovery】enhances your healing ability, but because of that, the toxins released when the drug is decomposed by it burst out at once, giving you a hard time.

There was no way it just made her a little tired.

I smiled and carried Tarte princess-style.

She was surprised that I carried her. Her body felt hot, burning hot even.

[Kyah! Lugh-sama, why are you-!?] (Tarte)

[Don’t push yourself too hard. I’ll carry you like this.] (Lugh)

I told the coachmen to wait in a forest far away so as not to get involved.

It was impossible for Tarte to walk that far on her own in that state.

[Please don’t… I’m just bothering you…] (Tarte)

[You don’t bother me at all. It’s natural for us to support each other as a team. Or do you dislike it when I carry you like that?] (Lugh)

[…I do not. On the contrary, I’m overjoyed.] (Tarte)

Tarte blushed and looked away, as if she had reached the limit of her embarrassment.

[I feel a little jealous, but I’ll allow it for today. Tarte was the one who took the greatest risks and had the hardest time after all.] (Dia)

Dia said so while standing next to me.

[You’re right. You did a great job, Tarte.] (Lugh)

Tarte was undoubtedly the one who played the most dangerous role. I wouldn’t be a worthy leader if I didn’t praise her for it.

[P-Please, it was nothing impressive! Dia-sama was the one who made it possible to kill the demon, and you were the one who defeated him, Lugh-sama!] (Tarte)

[Too much humility can sometimes be unpleasant to others. Are you saying that Dia and I didn’t evaluate you right?] (Lugh)

I said it in a soft, slightly teasing tone.

Yet Tarte reacted in a confused and funny manner.

[T-That’s not true! I did not mean it that way at all!] (Tarte)

[Then just be happy about it. Oh right, Lugh. Why don’t you give Tarte a reward?] (Dia)

[Good idea. Tarte, what would you like?] (Lugh)

For some reason, that question made her blush so hard she looked like she was steaming.

[U-Um… Well… Please let me ask you in private.] (Tarte)

[Oh-ho, so you’re going to ask him something you don’t want me to hear. Is it something lewd?] (Dia)

[N-No, nothing like that!] (Tarte)

[Yeah, guess not. You’re not that daring, after all.] (Dia)

Sometimes, Dia could be a bit of a tease when it came to Tarte.

It might’ve been her own way of loving her.

In the meantime, we reached the carriage.

They were waiting for us at the designated place, just as I had told them to.

…However, there was something that really bothered me.

The reason I told them to wait there was so that they wouldn’t get caught up in the attack. But that wasn’t all. It was also to keep them from seeing what we were up to.

But the fact that they listened to my words so obediently was even more unusual.

The higher-ups who wanted me to kill the demons desired information.

They most likely wanted to see if I really had the power that only the hero would acknowledge, and they were surely wondering how I would wield that power.

Even if that wasn’t the case, they should’ve suspected that we would escape by pretending to fight the demon.

Alternatively, they needed to make sure we had truly fought or even killed the demon.

If I reported that I killed the demon, they’d have to be crazy to believe me without any proof.

And yet, they didn’t have anyone monitor us.

I’d been on the lookout for watchers all along, using my own skills and magic. And yet, I couldn’t find any.

Of course, it was possible that there was a spy who could escape my vigilance, but… it was hard to imagine that they would have powers superior to those of Tuatha Dé.

Something was up.

Logically, I should assume that there was a way to know if I had killed a demon without having to monitor me.

How would they react once I reported to them that I had killed the demon?

What would make them believe my report?

Let’s try and find out carefully.