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 60: Handshake Between Angel’s Wings and Devil

“This is a magic item.”

Surprisingly, the wings on the backs of the Sky people were not real, but magic items.

“Quick, run!”

The knights, who had been distracted by the magic items, hurriedly fled when they realized they were in tatters.

“What should we do? Chase after them?”

Liliera-san asked if she should capture the knights.

“They’re not really enemies, so we can just leave them be.
There are people here who might give us information.”

I pointed to the defeated commander.

“For now, let’s use healing magic and examine their equipment.”

I cast healing magic on the commander and then removed his equipment.

“The armor and spear are decent magic items, but they fall short of being called a holy spear.”

“Do you understand?”

“Based on the battle earlier and the location, I think these are outdated magic items given to regional defense forces.”

“I see.
But it’s still strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Sky people protected that town from powerful monsters, right? Then they should be stronger.
Honestly, they only seemed as strong as a D-rank adventurer from the battle earlier.”

Liliera-san is truly amazing.
She was able to deduce that from the battle earlier.

“There are two possible explanations for that.”

“What are they?”

“One is that the Sky people were stronger back then.”

That’s a really simple speculation.

“And the second?”

“It’s possible that the magic items of the Sky people happened to be compatible with the monsters.
This spear, for example, is a weapon that releases attacking magic, so if the opponent is a monster that can’t fly, they can attack from the sky where the attacks can’t reach.
It would appear even stronger if the monster is weak against light attributes.”

“I see.
That possibility seems the most likely with this strength.”

I dismantled the wings I took from the commander to understand their structure.

“Wait, can you break them?”

“They’re already broken, and I just dismantled them a little.”

“Hmm, it seems like this is not an ordinary magic item.
In fact, this is…”

“Liliera-san.”

“What?”

“Yesterday, I explained why the floating island floats, right?”

“Yes, there’s a mineral called gravium in the soil and stones of the floating island that reacts to magic power.”

“Yes, that’s correct.
And I found out that this wing also contains gravium.”

“What!?”

“Look, this crystal attached to the center is a gravium crystal.”

I pointed to the rainbow-colored crystal fixed to the small plate at the center that connects the base of the wings and the wings themselves.

“It’s a beautiful stone.”

“By channeling magic power into this, the Sky people were able to fly.”

“So the Sky people were not angels with wings?”

“Based on what the commander said earlier, they are likely descendants of humans who once lived on the Sky Continent.”

“Descendants of humans from the Sky Continent!?”

Thinking about it, it all makes sense.

“I don’t know the exact cause, but as the commander mentioned, the Sky Continent was destroyed, and as a result, humans who could use flight magic disappeared.
Perhaps even ordinary magic items that could fly in the sky were lost as well.
So, they probably pulled out magic items powered by gravium that happened to be left somewhere and secured a means to fly.”

That seems to be the truth, right?

“I was surprised by the existence of the Sky people, but it’s even more surprising to learn that they are just ordinary humans and descendants of ancient people.”

I looked at Liliera-san, who was staring wide-eyed, and the commander who had lost consciousness.

“What are you saying? Liliera-san, you are also a descendant of ancient people.”

“Huh?”

Liliera-san was surprised by my words.

“By the way, I am also a descendant of ancient people.
After all, everyone living in the present is a descendant of ancient people.
We’re not a different race or anything.”

“Huh? Well, now that you mention it, that’s true.”

Liliera-san agreed with my words.
Yeah, that’s why I was surprised to hear the name of a race like the Sky people.
I had never heard of such a race in my past life, so I was wondering where they came from.

“Uh, um…”

“Ah, the commander has woken up.”

I stood in front of the commander, who had woken up and was shaking his head.

“Well then, let’s hear a lot of things from you.”

“Y-You…!”

The commander looked at me, ready to wield his weapon, but his hand was empty.
I had taken it while he was unconscious.

“M-My weapon, my armor!?”

“And also your wings.”

“What!?”

The commander looked behind him, following my words.

“M-My wings are gone!?”

Yeah, I took them.

“W-Where are my wings!?”

“Here.”

I pointed to the dismantled wings lying on the ground.

“M-My wings!”

The commander crawled towards the wings, staggering.

“Ah, what is this! If it’s known that I lost the wings entrusted to me by His Majesty, I, I…!”

If it’s known that the wings were broken, something bad will happen, huh?

“Is it really that bad if it’s known that the wings were broken?”

“Of course! The wings, along with the spear, are sacred equipment! They are irreplaceable and valuable items! If that fact is revealed, I will be executed!”

Well, they are antiques.
But execution is quite extreme.

Well, if there really is no other means of descending to the ground other than using magic items powered by gravium, then it would be treated as something valuable.
It seems there are no craftsmen who can repair them either.

But this is an opportunity.

“You have a wicked smile on your face.”

“Kyuu”

Yes, the person and the little one behind me, please be quiet.

“Hey, you there, I have a good offer for you.”

“Huh?”

The commander, who was on the verge of tears, looked at me with a questioning gaze.

“Shall I fix that for you?”

“What…?”

The commander, who was momentarily taken aback by my proposal, widened his eyes when he understood the meaning of my words.

“Can you do it? Can you fix it!?”

The commander grabbed my shoulder tightly, desperate.

“Yes, I will fix it for you if you answer my questions.”

“I’ll answer anything!!”

Haha, he’s really desperate.

“So, is this floating island a nation?”

“Y-Yes, this floating island and the surrounding ones are a country ruled by His Majesty, the Sky King.
It’s called the Holy Sky Kingdom Seraphium!”

“Got it.”

“R-Rex-san!?”

Wait, the Holy Sky Kingdom? What an impressive name.
If it were in my previous life, it would definitely be a joke and laughed at.
Moreover, it seems like they used a sacred name for the name of the country.
The level of amusement is dangerously high.
Who on earth came up with such an impressive name!?

“Um, are you okay, Rex-san?”

Liliera-san noticed that something was off with me and showed concern.
I’m sorry, I’m just holding back my laughter.

“Yes, I’m fine.
I was just caught off guard.”

Even so, it’s a name I’ve never heard before for a country.
It’s definitely not a name that existed during the time of the Sky Continent.
Even if I didn’t know it, someone I knew back then would have definitely mentioned such an amusing name as a joke.

“Oh, something is coming.”

Liliera-san looked up at the sky and alerted us.

“What is that…?”

The sky where Liliera-san was looking was shining silver.
Using detection magic, I could sense the presence of nearly 100 people.

“It’s the main force of the Sky Knights.”

The commander looks up at the sky, pale-faced.

I see, did the knights who escaped earlier call for reinforcements?

“H-Hurry, fix my wings! If it’s discovered that my wings are damaged, I’ll be captured as a criminal!”

It seems like this commander is also in a complicated position.
But…

“Well, it looks like we won’t make it in time.”

Yeah, there’s no way we can repair the wings with the speed the knights are approaching.

“W-What!?!”

“What should we do? Even if they’re not very strong, it’s tough to face that many.”

Liliera-san suggests retreating when she sees the number of approaching enemies.
But I think the opposite.
It’s the perfect timing, I’d say.

“No, let’s counterattack.
If we defeat them, we can gather more information.”

That’s right, as a squad leader, I couldn’t gather much information, but with a commander of that scale, I think they hold a decent rank and we can gather more information.

“Liliera-san, please step back.
I’ll take care of them with magic.”

“Okay, understood.”

Liliera-san obediently steps back, and Mofumofu waits behind me, lying down.

“Kyufuu”

It feels like he has zero motivation, even yawning.
I guess he really didn’t like that the wings were fake.

“Kyuuun”

He flips over and stretches out his limbs lazily.
He really lacks motivation.

“Well then, let’s finish this quickly.”

I wait for the knights to approach at just the right distance, then activate the magic I had prepared.

“Mana Break!!”

I cast a range magic spell for anti-magic items towards the knights.

“U-Uwah?! T-The altitude… it’s dropping?!?!”

“T-The light… the holy light of the spear isn’t coming out?!”

“Uwaaa!”

The knights lose control one after another and fall to the ground.

“Air Cushion!”

I weaken the impact absorption magic over a wide area.

“What just happened?! The enemies fell without anything happening?!”

As Liliera-san said, there were no visible flames or ice or anything that could be felt like wind from the magic I just cast.
But there was definitely something released.

“That was a magic that releases something invisible.”

“A magic that releases something invisible?”

“Yes, it’s called Mana Break.
It’s a magic that disrupts the flow of magic power, specifically designed to counter magic items.”

“A magic specifically designed to counter magic items?! I’ve never heard of such magic!”

Well, magic specifically designed to counter magic items isn’t very versatile.
It was created in response to a magic item corps that wreaked havoc in a certain country during the heyday of magic items.
In order to counter them, a magic that temporarily nullifies magic items was developed.

The corps that was hit by this magic had all their magic items turned into mere lumps of metal, rendering them unable to move properly, and they were easily defeated.

After that, the strategies of various countries changed, realizing the danger of relying too much on magic items.
Yeah, I’m the one who created this magic.
And as each country started to fight without relying too much on magic items, this magic gradually fell out of use.

“However, it’s only temporary nullification of magic items, so they will be usable again after a while.”

By the way, this magic is specifically designed to counter magic items, so it doesn’t work on regular magic.
Also, it has little effect on extremely large magic items like the one embedded in the Megalo Whale from before.
It disrupts the flow of small magical energy pathways in magic items, so it’s not suitable for disrupting large-scale magic power.

If that knight order had been flying in the air using flight magic, this magic wouldn’t have had much effect.
But reality is different.
Deprived of their only means of flight, they lowered their altitude to attack us, and as a result, they fell from a considerable height.
Although no one died thanks to the impact absorption magic I cast, almost everyone suffered injuries from the fall and were writhing in pain, with their wings broken.

“Shall I help you?”

“Huh? Help? Even though they’re enemies?”

Liliera-san is perplexed when she hears that I’m going to help despite saying we would fight.

“I never intended to annihilate them from the beginning.”

My goal is elsewhere, after all.

“Distant Area Heal!”

We, who have approached the knight order, use long-range healing magic to treat them.

“Ugh, the pain is disappearing…?”

“You should no longer be in pain, everyone.”

“What?!”

When I speak, the knights look surprised and turn their gaze towards me.

“If anyone still has pain, I will treat you.”

“C-Captain, everyone, fly! Surround the enemy from the air and annihilate them with the light of our spears!!”

“Yes!!”

The knights jump up in response to the commander’s order.
However, their wings are broken, so they can only hop around.

“W-Why can’t we fly?!”

“C-Captain, this is bad! Our wings are broken!”

“What!? How dare you break the sacred wings borrowed from His Majesty!”

The commander, called the captain, shouts angrily, but his own wings are also broken.

“B-But Captain, your wings are also broken!”

“What…?!”

When the captain looks back at the words of his subordinate knights, he sees his own broken wings.

“…!?”

The captain’s face distorts in astonishment, and he turns even paler.

“…!? …Ahh!?”

It seems like this is what they mean when they say someone is speechless.

“Now then, everyone!”

I raise my voice and make the knights turn towards me.

“How are your wounds? Oh, it seems like everyone’s wings are in a terrible state.
I’ve heard that it’s a big problem if those wings break, but can’t they be fixed?”

“W-What?!?”

Not only the captain, but all the knights raise their heads and look at me.

“If I said I could fix them… what would you do?”

“W-What?! Fix them?”

The captain and the knights are in disbelief.

“Yes, if you want them fixed…”

When the captain and the knights look at each other, they nod in agreement.

“W-We didn’t see any spies! Please become friends with us!!”

“Yes, human friendship is the most important.”

“I witnessed an unbelievable blackmail.”

“Kyuuun”

Liliera-san hangs her head for some reason, and Mofumofu makes a gesture of exasperation.
What are you both saying? Peaceful resolution is the best.