TL/Editor: raei
Status: 5/week mon-fri
Illustrations: none
Join the discord! Here
"Monster!"
The beast that tore through the earth and emerged was a golem made of rock, stone, and clay.
Its size was staggering, nearly 4 meters tall.
The sheer weight of the massive collection of minerals!
The rock golem boasted destructive power worthy of being called a medieval war-suit.
"It's charging at the Duke!"
"I'll stop it!"
Young knights full of vigor tried to block the golem's path.
But Salvador and Belenka pushed them aside.
"Get out of the way, you fools!"
"What the- Old man!"
The young knights were startled, but they shut their mouths at Salvador's sharp glare.
"How do you plan to stop that avalanche-like monster!"
"..."
"If you're that eager to go to heaven, I won't stop you!"
At Salvador's rebuke, the knights came to their senses.
This wasn't an opponent they could face with notions of loyalty or desire for military glory.
A monster made of clay and rock instead of flesh and blood!
"You lot, escort your lords and run!"
"But... I don't have a lord?"
"Then use your brain and help anyone!"
Salvador instinctively knew.
This was clearly a monster created by the power of mystery.
And the only ones who could face it were wizards.
"You help Ian!"
"Yes!"
Salvador busied himself commanding the knights while Belenka moved to support Ian.
[I'll kill you!!!]
A piercing mental scream swept across the battlefield.
Ian, who had leveled up a lot until now, could somewhat withstand the pressure of the mystery.
But not Bunchi.
"Hiiieek!"
Overwhelmed by the tremendous killing intent emitted by the mystery, Bunchi half lost his mind.
'Is Bunchi really clueless about this?'
Ian found Bunchi's reaction questionable.
The monster seemed to have appeared in response to Bunchi's magical language, but...
"Dodge, my lord!"
"This way!"
Loyal knights escorted their respective lords to safety.
"Ian!"
Belenka appeared just in time.
Ian entrusted Lucy's protection to Belenka.
"Take care of Lucy."
"... I'll be back soon."
Ian took a deep breath to calm himself.
He could see the rock golem charging towards him, kicking up clouds of dust.
If he got hit by that thing, he'd be turned into a bloody pancake.
'It has a physical form.'
The rock golem wasn't an intangible mystery.
It was clearly an intelligent being made of clay and rock.
Having a physical form meant it could be beaten down.
'But dialogue comes first.'
Ian addressed the rock golem in the Maronius language.
"[Stop! O enraged one!]"
[Graaah!]
Ian's Maronius was perfect.
The fact that the rock golem didn't stop meant its eyes were half-crazed.
'Damn it!'
Ian rolled on the ground.
The rock golem passed by, stomping the earth, missing him by a hair's breadth.
"Bunchi!"
The rock golem was a monster created by mystery.
Knights without proper equipment wouldn't be of help in the fight.
The only one who could help Ian right now was Bunchi.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"..."
However, Bunchi, his mind seemingly broken, ran away without looking back!
Ian couldn't close his gaping mouth.
"Hey, you...!"
You're an earth wizard, Bunchi!
If you run away, what am I supposed to do with this rock golem!
[Come here! You half-ground gravel!]
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The rock golem ignored Ian and chased straight after Bunchi.
"[Why are you so angry?]"
With rocks embedded in mud.
The rock golem spoke slowly.
[That cunning human... stole my child while I was sleeping...!]
"[Child?]"
Ian immediately looked at Bunchi.
Bunchi explained, sweating profusely.
"Well, um... I did pick up a mysterious stone..."
"Picked up? Not stole?"
"... I did defeat the guardian golems and take it. But I'm the victim here! It's common sense that there are guardians around treasures!"
So, Bunchi was claiming that mysterious stone... or the rock golem's child, was his rightful spoils of war.
Ian was dumbfounded.
Is it normal for a wizard to just grab a stone of unknown origin?
Forcibly snatching the power of mystery without any communication is absolutely not the way of a wizard.
"Ian! You're a wizard too, you should understand! When there's a stone full of earth power right in front of you, ignoring it is..."
"Shut up. Just give it back already."
"G-Give it back? But you subdued the golem, didn't you?"
Ian quietly pulled out Anor-lsil from his waist.
Anor-lsil took the hint and jumped out, starting to beat up Bunchi.
"Ow! Ow! W-What is this!"
Ian immediately made a fuss.
"Ah! The mystery is enraged by Bunchi's shamelessness!"
"Okay! Okay! I'll give it back, alright!"
Soon, Bunchi brought the golem's child.
Ian sincerely apologized and returned the child to the rock golem.
"[It was our foolish mistake. We're truly sorry.]"
[... I can feel your sincerity. I'll accept your apology.]
In truth, it was because Ian had subdued it that it ended things nicely.
If he had just apologized, it might have crushed Bunchi and returned to the forest.
In any case, the rock golem disappeared.
---
---
There was a brief commotion, but everything was resolved well without a single casualty.
The knights who witnessed Bunchi's sacrifice(?) and Ian's brilliant magic had their morale boosted sky-high.
"With a wizard like that on our side, even a dragon won't be a problem!"
"Let's raid the dragon's nest right away!"
Apart from the heightened morale of the knights and soldiers.
The mood among the nobles wasn't good.
"What did you say?"
Duke Araz and Count Edward looked at Bunchi with shocked expressions.
No matter how much they glared at Bunchi, the result wouldn't change.
"It may be hard to believe... but it's all true."
Ian decided to cover up the massive trolling Bunchi had caused.
In exchange, he extracted a promise from Bunchi to cooperate with Ian during the expedition.
Ian questioned Bunchi about what happened in the Margrave of Haltramm's territory.
And the expected answer came back.
"His Excellency the Margrave did not fight the dragon."
"..."
"The black dragon took a few arrows from the soldiers, then just ran away."
The plant wizard Mani was right.
The spear that the Margrave of Haltramm claimed to have thrust into the black dragon's jaw.
It had been stuck in the black dragon's jaw from the beginning.
The margrave had spread false rumors as if he had achieved a military feat with it.
Even though his lie was exposed, the margrave's expression didn't change one bit.
Instead, he shouted proudly.
"It's a monster we have to hunt anyway! But everyone was trembling like cowards, so I used my wisdom to inspire some courage!"
"..."
Ian was at a loss for words.
Spreading false rumors was... 'wisdom' in his mind.
Wisdom to push people who were scared out of their wits!
"How can you say that now!"
Duke Araz shouted with a pale face.
She had moved her troops after hearing rumors that the dragon was severely injured.
But if that was a lie...
Didn't that mean they now had to fight a life-or-death battle with a perfectly healthy dragon?!
"You sure talk a lot! Duke!"
"What did you say?!"
"What are you going to do now that we've come this far? Return like losers! We have to hunt the dragon anyway! The glory of Dragon Slayer is right in front of us!"
The Margrave of Haltramm said as he swiftly mounted his horse.
"Whatever you all say, I'm going to hunt that dragon!"
"..."
"If you want to return empty-handed after bringing so many knights and mercenaries, I won't stop you."
Toggle New Ads
3/5 Enjoy the chappy!
Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.
It helps the website and helps people find this novel!
If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support our translations or subscribe to read up to 15 chapters or more (depending on the novel) ahead, you can do so via Ko-fi.
Click here!