CH 50

While Lou and Fran were slaughtering a pack of Orcs…

Giselle and Nadia were making their way to the artificially created ruins in the Hunting Forest.

According to Nadia…

”It’s ridiculous to hunt puny goblins and orcs.”

Certainly, the demons with the highest points in the Hunting Forest were Ogres.

“Since we’re here, let’s use our brains. Will you do as I say, Giselle?”

“As you say?”

“Yeah! We just need to hunt Ogres in large numbers all at once in the densest area.”

Even in this forest, Ogres have territories in the form of villages, ruins, and other places where the herd could easily live to the exclusion of other demons.

Nadia looked at Adelaide as she said this.

She didn’t forget to casually remind them that it was her suggestion.

Adelaide smiled vaguely when Nadia asked for her agreement.

Adelaide and Kelturi, as witnesses of the game, won’t interfere with the players in principle.

It was allowed if they were consulted…

It was very much forbidden to give specific advice, much less to help defeat a demon.

An hour later…

While skillfully dodging goblins and orcs along the way…

Giselle, Nadia, and Adelaide arrived at a hill overlooking a place called the ‘Ancient Ruins’.

Trekking such a distance in a hurry would have exhausted women’s legs…

But as expected of magicians.

All three of them were barely affected physically thanks to their Physical Enhancement Magic.

“Whoa! Here, we’re here!”

Giselle exclaimed happily as she recognized some Ogres.

Giselle was right. From the top of the hill, they saw a pack of Ogres.

They were relaxing as they pleased.

There were about 20 of them ――― They were quite a lot.

What’s an Ogre?

They were clumsy and slow-witted.

However, they were huge and monstrously powerful demons that were even more ferocious and brutal than Orcs.

In addition to male Ogres, there were also female ones.

Perhaps because they were at the top of the food chain in this forest, they naturally breed and increase their numbers.

Like Orcs, they preferred human flesh, especially young human flesh…

They were the perfect demons for training, allowing the students of the Magical Girls Academy to show off their fighting instincts to the fullest.

Their resistance to magic was low…

Those born through natural breeding weren’t born with the reduced abilities specified by the Hunting Forest, but with the original abilities of Ogres.

Therefore, it was normal to hunt with a large group of people to avoid danger.

Yet only two wanted to hunt such a pack of Ogres.

The fact that Adelaide had given her permission was proof of how outstanding the power of Giselle and Nadia was.

“Hahaha, the competition time is limited. Let’s get going, Giselle.”

“Okay. As usual, I’ll use my shield to draw the enemy away, and you’ll use your magic to finish them off at once. Is that okay?”

“Hmm, my thoughts exactly. Take care!”

Nadia replied with a smile and stuck her tongue while thinking inwardly. 

There’s no way a slender wizard like me will stand in the vanguard.

I’m afraid I might expose a shameful sight in front of the Chairman. That would give me a negative image.

In case of a mishap, I may even sustain a life-threatening injury.

At times like this… Giselle the fool.

You sturdy, strong fool, you’ve got to do the majority of the work here, hehehe. 

Without knowing Nadia’s wicked intentions…

Giselle released a piercing fiery yell and charged into the swarm of ogres.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ 

Meanwhile, Lou and Fran…

And the witness, Kelturi.

As they walked, Lou tilted his head and said.

“I wonder how Adelaide-san convinced Zeimon-san to be a witness.”

“Of course, Zeimon tried his best to stop her this time. He said it was too dangerous.”

“I knew it.”

“Yeah, but you know, whenever there’s magic or something interesting involved, Mother pushes danger aside as irrelevant.”

Amazing!

Adelaide was just like his grandfather.

Lou felt nostalgic as he recalled his training days.

Now…

As for where the three were headed, it was to the Village, where the second largest number of ogres were gathered, after the Ruins.

Lou’s scouting, or it could be regarded as Sylph’s whispering, revealed that Giselle’s group had headed for the Ruins ahead of them.

Since the competition was point-based, Lou and Fran had thought the same thing as Nadia.

“But, Kelly, what did you mean by farce?”

Fran turned around and spoke to Kelturi, who was following behind her.

She was apparently concerned about the words Kelturi had said to her.

Fran gave her a quizzical look.

Kelturi asked in return, “You didn’t get that either?”

Fran snorted, “Hmm!”

“You and Adelaide…you aren’t making a fool of Lou, are you?”

This time, Fran snapped at Kelturi, who merely shrugged.

“Whaaat? I’m not making a fool of Lou.”

Kelturi smiled wryly at Fran’s transparent expression and slowly shook her head.

“Fine, I’m sure you guys don’t mean any harm, but…your perception of the Arlvs’ Sowell is way off.”

“Pardon? Our perception of the Arlvs’ Sowell?”

“You see the Sowell as nothing more than the head of the Arlv clan, do you?”

“N-Not at all!…I believe there’s more to it than that. And looking at Lou, I think he’s awesome…”

“Huh? Awesome?”

When Kelturi heard Fran’s adjective, her shoulders slumped exaggeratedly this time.

Her expression spoke, Good grief!

“That’s enough! Don’t just use the adjective awesome to describe Sowell!”

“It can’t just be awesome?! I-I don’t understand!”

“I see. I can’t go into too much detail, but…Fran, let me give you a little insight.” 

After saying that, Kelturi began to speak blandly.

When the first Arlv was born…

Various gods and spirits descended on the world and bestowed wisdom and power.

The Arlvs were originally the descendants of the Fairy Tribe, who were known as God’s family.

Compared to humans, they had more opportunities to mingle with gods and other fairies.

Consequently…

From the Gods’ Era to the present…

The vast amount of knowledge they had gained was accumulated and also put into practice in various ways.

Part of that knowledge was Spirit Magic and Secret Taijutsu.

If this vast amount of knowledge and experience were to be passed down from generation to generation…

What would happen?

After listening to Kelturi’s narration, Fran thought for a moment and came up with an answer.

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, and she couldn’t help but clamp a hand over her mouth.

“That’s…the practitioner will be exactly akin to gods and spirits…”

“That’s what I’m talking about…”

Kelturi muttered under her breath.

“Lou is only human, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to display the overall power of the Great Sowell…” 

Kelturi shifted her gaze from Fran to Lou and continued talking.

“After all, the most powerful Sowell, Schulvestre-sama, approved of him.”

“…”

“I believe he possesses powers similar to those of the previous Sowells, and now that Schulvestre-sama is gone, it is his duty to pass on the full extent of his power to the next Sowell.”

A Sowell’s obligation to fulfill…

Hearing Kelturi’s words, Lou also responded with a vigorous nod.