Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 43: Those Who Scheme in the Shadows and Those Who Defeat Them

“What, what happened!?”

Something unbelievable just happened right in front of my eyes.
Suddenly, a sideways tornado appeared and blew away all the monsters in front of me.

Not only our knight order, but also the adventurers are confused by the current situation.
Does that mean the adventurers are not responsible for what happened either?

No, first of all, a sideways tornado is impossible.
I have no interest in seeing such an absurd phenomenon.

“Hey! Is it possible to do something like that with magic?”

I ask the court magician who was standing nearby for an explanation.

“…”

However, the wizards stood frozen in astonishment, their faces expressionless.

“Answer!”

“Huh!? Oh, no, I’m sorry.”

The wizards, who had finally come to their senses after being scolded by me, bow their heads.

“Drop the etiquette! What’s the matter? Is that magic?”

However, the wizards shake their heads.

“No, I have never seen such magic.
It is likely that even the Wind Lancaster, one of the Four Great Wizards of the Magic Kingdom, cannot use that kind of magic.”

Even if the wizards from the magical country of Angelto are here they wouldn’t be able to explain this.
Seriously, what was the point in bringing these wizards?

“So, are you saying that the tornado earlier was not magic?”

However, the wizards once again shake their heads.

“No, I have never heard of a tornado occurring sideways.
But it is probably the result of a magic phenomena.”

“Can you do it or not? Which is it?”

Oh, this is why I can’t have a proper conversation with so called experts! Cut it out already!

“It is likely an artifact that possesses the power of Lost Magic.”

“It’s an artifact!?”

Artifacts refer to magic items that were created by an ancient civilization that perished long ago, possessing tremendous power.

It is said that the value of the artifacts excavated from ruins and the like is immeasurable, with some being worth thousands of gold coins, and in some cases even tens of thousands of gold coins.
There are even stories of items that have such value that they cannot be exchanged for gold.

The magician is saying that such an item was used during this extermination.

“An artifact…”

If this were just a subjugation, we should have been happy about the existence of such an item.
After all, in this large-scale subjugation, there have been sightings of several S-rank monsters.

However, regarding the extermination this time, the existence of the Artifact should not have been there.
Because…

“I really hope you don’t fail in this mission…”

Yes, the current massive outbreak of monsters occurring around the capital is all caused by me, the Toumell Taccano Knight Order, and the Taccano Marquis family…

“Use the scout unit to search for adventurers currently that could be using the artifact.”

I immediately give instructions to my deputy.
It is necessary to quickly eliminate anything that hinders my plan.

“And once you find it, dispose of it and take the artifact.”

“Hah!”

My subordinates immediately spring into action.
It seems there are individuals who share the same ambition as me.
In other words, they are the ones intentionally causing the massive outbreak of monsters.

“In my beautiful plan, there is no need for unnecessary impurities.”

“Alright, we managed to deceive the knights and move to a place where they can’t see us.
Now, let’s prioritize targeting the strongest-looking monsters as much as possible.”

Using a distraction caused by activating magic, I took the lead and began my actions, targeting an S-rank monster.
I have already received information from the guild about an S-rank monster that they want me to prioritize defeating.
Although I only have eyewitness reports and don’t know exactly where it is, I think I can find it quickly if I move around meticulously using detection magic.

“I found it while you were talking!”

I confirm a significantly stronger power ahead than the surrounding monsters.

“That is… Gold Tiger!”

Gold Tiger, as the name suggests, is a magical creature that adorns itself with golden fur.
Even in its past life, it was a sought-after creature for its beauty and fur.

“This is a good start, huh? They say that person is going to make a lot of money.”

Huh? Come to think of it, I heard that the Gold Tiger was hunted to extinction for its fur, but it seems like it’s still alive.

“Well, the details don’t matter.”

Anyway, it’s fine because Gold Tiger is also a target for subjugation.
The Gold Tiger seems to have noticed us and is preparing for battle as we approached it.

“Now, how should I defeat it?”

Fighting against Gold Tiger is quite troublesome.
After all, that guy has a boastful golden fur that nullifies or greatly weakens light attribute magic.

I am of the wind attribute, but I have a lightning-based magic that is similar to the light attribute.
That’s why I have a bad compatibility with the Gold Tiger.
That’s why the strategy of paralyzing with electricity doesn’t work.

In my past life, I only saw them as enemies, so I just had to defeat them.
But this time, if I want to defeat them with as little damage as possible, the difficulty level increases.

“Oh, so that’s why adventurers put their heads together to defeat monsters.”

We strive to secure the best possible materials within limited conditions.
I am reminded of the excellent condition of the Golden Tiger’s fur that I saw in a past life, and I now express my respect for the ingenuity and efforts of adventurers.

“I can’t afford to lose either!”

That’s right, I’m an adventurer now.
So, I’ll try to defeat the Gold Tiger in the best possible way!

“Alright, no magic that damages weapons or fur.
Let’s finish this with hand-to-hand combat!”

I activate attribute enhancement, which is an advanced magic of physical enhancement.
However, this time I will enhance attributes other than fire and water.

“Multiple body enhancements, physical boost!”

Physical Boost is an ultra-enhancement magic that further specializes in enhancing the performance of the body through strengthening magic.
This magic consumes several times more magical power than regular body enhancement magic, but in return, it can greatly enhance the physical abilities beyond what regular body enhancement magic can achieve.
If the normal body enhancement magic has an enhancement effect of 3-5 times, Physical Boost can exhibit an effect of over 10 times.
Furthermore, it is designed to be infinitely enhanced based on the amount of magical power infused.

“Let’s go!”

I am simply heading towards Gold Tiger.
However, the speed is unlike anything before.

“!?”

Seeing me suddenly accelerate at several times the speed, the Gold Tiger becomes wary and slows down.
However, that is a mistake.
Slowing down in response to my acceleration, the Gold Tiger cannot keep up with my speed.

“Hey there!”

I, who had jumped into the bewildered Gold Tiger’s embrace, quickly spun my body around and circled around its side.
The enemy that should have been right in front of me suddenly disappeared, causing the Gold Tiger to panic and search for my figure.

“It’s slow!”

When I straddled the Gold Tiger, I grabbed its head and twisted it forcefully to the side.

“Huh!?”

With a cracking sound, the Gold Tiger suddenly stops moving without even letting out a scream.

“Phew, if you don’t want to damage the fur, then you can just destroy the insides, right?”

Yeah, this might be a good method.
It doesn’t look like it has any visible damage at all, so let’s continue destroying the prey from the inside like this.

“Hmm, there are other S-rank monster reactions as well.”

The reaction is outside of our extermination area, but well, the guild has requested that we prioritize defeating the S-rank monsters, so I’ll go there for a bit.
After all, defeating them will still earn us money.

◆

“It’s serious, Captain Toumell.
The S-rank monsters around the capital are disappearing at an alarming rate.”

“What did you say!?”

While I was waiting at the headquarters, I received an unbelievable report from my subordinate.

“What’s going on!? It’s an S-rank monster! Are you saying that another knight order is participating in the subjugation somewhere else?”

S-rank monsters are opponents that can only be defeated by large-scale group extermination by knight orders or by S-rank adventurers with some kind of trump card.

Are they being destroyed with ease!?

“No, there is no information about other knight orders participating, and our reconnaissance troops have not reported seeing any such presence either.”

“What’s going on?”

No, in the first place, the S-rank monsters were supposed to be moved outside the hunting area, except for a few fast-footed decoys, so that they wouldn’t be defeated in this raid.

“How many monsters were killed?”

“Already 7 signals have disappeared.”

“Are you stupid!?”

Seven monsters!? That’s impossible! How much time and damage do you think it would take to defeat one S-rank? And it’s only been two hours since the large-scale extermination started!

“What on earth is happening!? …Could it be!?”

That’s right, that sideways tornado that occurred at the start of the subjugation was surely a decoy to grab my attention! Someone must have directed the scouts’ attention towards me in order to prevent them from realizing the concentrated subjugation of S-rank monsters!

“No way… Our plan has been noticed!?”