Volume 3 Chapter 8 Elwood, Rosho, Sarissa, And...
The sound of metal clinking echoed as Rosho sheathed his sword.
It was the sound of Rosho putting away the 'Holy Sword.'
In front of Rosho, a boy lay on the ground, his left arm cut off at the shoulder and his right leg severed at the knee.
He was bleeding heavily and gasping for air, but Rosho didn't care at all.
He called out to Sarissa, who was nearby.
"How's it going over there?"
"Well, I don't have anything."
"Then let's check on Elwood."
Rosho ignored the boy and started walking.
Together with Sarissa, he headed towards the open area about 10m (≈ 32.8ft) ahead where Elwood was.
Even though it was called a square, it was just a slightly cleared space in the forest, and there, Elwood was clashing swords with another boy.
"Ugh..."
"Sorry, but you're not my opponent."
"Ah!"
With a swift motion, the boy's sword was shattered.
Elwood pointed his sword at the boy's neck.
"Give me the flag."
"Ugh..."
The boy handed the flag to Elwood.
Elwood then struck the boy's neck with the sword's sheath, knocking him out.
Suddenly, the boy's body began to glow... and then vanished like smoke.
Elwood said,
"Losing the flag means you can escape from the dungeon, huh..."
"Looks like it. By the way, Elwood, how many flags do you have now?"
"18. Good grief, I'm getting bored with these weak opponents."
"Just 3 more hours to go. Now, let's take a break... Hey Sarissa, do you have any food?"
"I do. And of course, there's tea. Now, Your Highness, let's rest!"
"Yeah, thanks, Sarissa."
Sarissa held a staff that looked like a conductor's baton and began to chant.
"'Rental. Order. Borrow. Renun. Pocket. Skill...' Storage'."
Then, a black hole opened in the empty air, and things like tables, chairs, tea sets, and pots filled with hot water appeared.
It was one of Sarissa's magic skills, 'Skill Rental.' She could borrow the skills of those who had feelings for her and use them freely.
It was high-level magic with a magic level of 95.
For Sarissa, who was a 'Magic Saint,' she could activate it with this simple chant. Normally, it would take several minutes to chant, but as a high-level magician, Sarissa could skip some of the chanting.
Sarissa poured tea for Elwood.
"Here you go, Your Highness."
"Thank you."
"Here, Brother."
"Yeah."
The 3 of them sat down and drank their tea.
Rosho lined up flags on the table.
"Still, this is boring... isn't there a team with more challenge?"
"Brother, you were the one who was so wild."
"Hmph. Fighting someone with skills at the level of a kingdom knight would be better."
When Rosho said that, Elwood chuckled.
"Haha, that's true... with Rosho's level, you might only be able to fight kingdom knights."
"'Five Stars' would be fine too?"
"No way. Even if all the kingdom knights teamed up, they couldn't even scratch 'Five Stars.' Well, right now, there are only 2 in the country on a mission."
"A mission?"
"Yeah. I've never seen 'Five Stars' all together. Usually, 2 are guarding the country, and the other 3 are on missions abroad. I don't think there's ever been a time when more than 3 'Five Stars' were in this country."
"Is it a dangerous mission or something?"
The 3 of them chatted while drinking tea.
There was less than an hour left in the preliminaries.
Rosho leaned back in his chair and said.
"What kind of people do you think will show up in the finals?"
"I think it will be someone who can meet your expectations, big brother, and not just anyone."
"Yeah, right. Well... Elwood, we're teammates in the team battle, but in the individual battle..."
"I get it. You mean we should fight in the finals, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm looking forward to that, but there's someone I'm personally curious about."
"Oh? Who is it?"
Elwood grinned.
"It's the black-haired girl who was the representative with me for the new students. I think her name was... Yato Shikiba. She's from Yamato."
"If she's from Yamato, then her name is Shikiba Yato. In that country, the family name comes first, followed by the given name."
"That's right. Sarissa, you know a lot."
"Hehe..."
Sarissa blushed.
Rosho asked casually.
"So, is this Yato person strong?"
"Yeah. Really strong."
Elwood said firmly.
Rosho seemed a bit interested.
"For you to say that... Hehe... I want to fight her first."
"Don't let your guard down, okay? She's definitely got real battle experience. A lot of it."
"So what? She's not my enemy. I just want to know if it'll be fun or not."
"Geez..."
"Big brother, you're so simple."
"Shut up. Sarissa, if you enter the individual battle, I won't hold back against you either."
"I won't participate in the individual battle, so I'm fine."
The siblings exchanged light banter.
Elwood smiled at their friendly interaction.
Good friends. Even if they end up clashing in a personal battle, he want to stay on good terms with Rosho and Sarissa.
But Elwood doesn't know.
Once, these two and the Duke Kinesis family killed the elder brother together.
Then, the flag on the table quietly began to glow faintly.
"Oh, what's this... is it over?"
"Looks like it, Elwood. I see, it's the same teleportation magic as when we were sent into this dungeon."
"Seems so, Your Highness. And this feeling... it's different from when we first teleported. Probably, when we collect 3, a different type of teleportation magic will activate."
"You're amazing, magic genius. Even as my little sister, you're terrifying."
"Brother! Come on..."
While they exchanged light banter, the 3 were enveloped in light and teleported.
* * *
Time rewinds just a little.
Elk, Gambo, and Fine were being attacked by a swarm of 'insects.'
Gambo shouted.
"That bastard Chuta!! This skill is definitely it!!"
"Is that the guy with the Mouse face?!"
"Gambo!? These are grasshoppers!!"
The skill 'Manipulation'──Chuta can control insects and small animals.
He can control a few small animals, but with insects, it's hundreds or more... there's no doubt that Chuta is controlling these grasshoppers.
The reason is──Marcos was watching from a short distance away.
"Alright, let's steal their flag and get through the preliminaries."
"Got it."
"*Squeak squeak squeak...* as expected of Sir. Sending a weak team to distract them and steal their flag, then targeting them when they're worn out."
Skill, 'Emotion Manipulation.'
Marcos manipulated the emotions of the team he had set against the Elks. He instilled 'hostility' and 'courage' in them, making them attack Elks and his team.
No matter who won, they would be exhausted. If he aimed for that... there were 2 flags. In other words, it meant passing the preliminaries.
But there was a flaw in this plan.
"Leave it to me."
Elk spread his arms wide and activated Telekinesis.
The leaves of the trees started tearing apart.
Elk skillfully moved his arms and fingers──like a top-notch conductor. Then, the leaves wrapped around the insects and fell to the ground one by one.
"Hey, hey, aren't you going to kill them?"
"No. They just seem to be controlled... Even if they are bugs, it's kind of sad."
Elk wrapped the insects in leaves to immobilize them... which was impossible to think.
He wrapped hundreds of insects in leaves. Such a feat was unimaginable.
Chuta was stunned, and Marcos widened his eyes.
"W-What the... that guy in the black hood, like an assassin!? *Squeak squeak*, my bugs!"
"...Rocks, go."
"Yes...!!"
When Rocks touched the ground, the soil became as hard as rock, wrapping around his body.
Skill: 'Earth Armor.'
Rocks was a warrior who fought while clad in earth.
Then, Rocks jumped out in front of Elk and his team.
"...It's you, huh?"
"Ooohhh!!"
A giant fist made of earth aimed at Elk.
But Elk didn't move. In fact──he was laughing.
Gambo jumped out in front of Elk and took the earth fist on his head.
With a loud crash, Rocks' fist shattered.
"Ugh, Gggghh!?"
"You fool. A lump of dirt can't compete with 'steel'..."
"Ugh, no..."
"Still coming at me? Well, whatever... Take this!!"
Gambo's 'Steel Form' right straight hits Rocks right in the face.
Rocks hurriedly covers his face with dirt like a mask, but it easily shatters.
His face gets crushed, blood sprays from his nose, and his teeth break. Rocks is blown away and rolls on the ground. He doesn't move at all, completely knocked out.
Elk, who has finished wrapping all the insects in leaves, waves both hands.
"I found you."
Then──the trees around Chuta and Marcos start to pop out and fall down.
The trees fall down neatly, lined up.
And then, a path of trees opens up, connecting Elk and Marcos in a straight line.
Fine crouches down, puts both hands on the ground, and raises her butt.
She leans forward and grins.
"I don't like your face, mouse."
Fine dashes forward in an instant.
Straight ahead. Toward Chuta's face.
"'Mach Punch!'."
"Boom!"
Chuta, without understanding what's happening, gets his face smashed in and is slammed into the ground.
He took the full force of the punch boosted by 'Accel.'
Now only Marcos is left.
Marcos turns pale and says to the approaching Gambo.
"Uh, um, can you, like, not come back? I'm from the Baron family."
"Don't need it."
"W-Wait, I'll give you a flag, that is──."
"I'll beat you up and take it."
"I-I... is that okay!? If you touch me, the Baron family will──."
"I don't care. Besides, it's a fair fight. If your parents come complaining about winning or losing, that just lowers the nobility's dignity... I mean, if I can punch you, I don't mind making the Baron family my enemy."
Gambo grins and cracks his fingers.
A metal knuckle is equipped on his hand.
"I'll tell you something good. Just now, my level went up... 'Steel Form' became 'Steel Infusion.' Now I can use Steel Form not just on my body, but also on my equipment and things!"
"W-wait!"
"I'm not waiting. So... let's blast off!!"
"Aaaaaa!? B-brrr!?"
With a sound like meat and bones shattering, Marcos's face caved in. He spun in the air multiple times and fell, crashing into the ground.
Elk and Fine turned pale.
"Wow..."
"Ah, that felt refreshing. Oh, is this a flag? Alright, that's 3 now."
Gambo collected the flag.
And so, Elk and the others got their third flag.
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