The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

roceeded to answer Betty’s question.

“So, among our members are… Sir Charlie the Thousand Morphing Blade.
Sir Dragan the Dainty Tiger.
Miss Catherine the Benevolent Petal.
Sir Jacob the Demon Blader.
Miss Natasha the Unholy War Princess… then there’s me, Barun the Scale Tipper.
Well, let’s just leave me out of this ranking for now.”

Oh, I see…

Right.
I do remember seeing ‘The Scale Tipper’ as one of Barun’s titles.
It probably was derived from his style not adhering to the definitions of warriors nor mages.

It just didn’t sound right for him to call himself by his nickname, but at least he was being humble about it.
That, or the rest of the Six Braves were actually significantly stronger by his standards.

But still, it sure feels crazy that I’m already acquainted with four of those awesome-sounding people.
That number excluded Charlie the Thousand Morphing Blade, since I had only caught sight of him from a distance, of course.

Warren had told me that Charlie had been quite interested in me, but that was a story from two years ago, so he’s probably forgotten about me by now.

“Hmm, Sir Jacob and Miss Natasha did go at it fairly recently and came out with a draw, so I’d say they’re equally strong.
But Sir Jacob did lose to Sir Dragan in a sparring match some time ago, and then there’s the time Sir Dragan lost to Miss Catherine when he first entered the ranks of the Six Braves…”

I can understand his roundabout explanation, since he was probably listing his thoughts out as he went along, but can Pochi follow this ranking?

Well, all things considered, it should be straightforward enough.

I mean, Barun even listed that person’s name out first.

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“From how you’re talking, the strongest is still Sir Charlie, after all?”

Hmm? Is it just me, or was Betty talking like she’d met Charlie before?

“Oh? Well, since he lives and works full time in Beilanea, I did get to see him fight a few times.”

Betty followed up on her own statement, making it seem like she had read my thoughts just now.

Then she proceeded to elaborate on her point as if she had experienced it herself,

“I swear, he’s an absolute beast.
You know how different people prefer different kinds of weapons? Like those who prefer the raw power of great swords, the nimbleness of short swords, the precision of daggers, so on and so forth.
But Sir Charlie lives up to his nickname of Thousand Morphing Blade – he’s mastered the wielding of all bladed weapons.
My stupid brother even said that ‘he’d be a great match for ol’ Argent, man,’ and I’m actually inclined to agree.”

And Betty even effortlessly imitated Bruce’s manner of speaking right there – goes to show how close they are as siblings.

“Yeah, it’s like she said.
Sir Charlie is the strongest among the Six Braves, and at the very least the second among the Duodecad Conference.
Try not to be vaporized when you get too close to him!”

“Ooh! I’d actually like to see him vaporize stuff!”

He didn’t mean it literally, you dunce.

…Anyway, back to Barun…

“Well, I’d say Sir Gaston of the Six Archmages is equally beastly strong, though.”

“Heh, I can agree with that.
He’s so hyperactive that I wouldn’t think he was over eighty years old.”

Betty had actually fought Gaston before, so if she’s saying that, then it must be right.

That, and Charlie did slay Baladd’s parent dragon, or, so he himself had claimed.
Considering that, it would be reasonable to assume that Barun was quite under-powered as far as the Six Braves went.

I was particularly curious as to who Natasha the Unholy War Princess was.
Presumably a woman, as ‘princess’ would usually imply, and perhaps one of aristocratic origin?

I’ll remember to ask Blazer for some details later.

And now that I think about it, out of the Six Archmages, I’ve only ever met Gaston and Irene.

The rest of them are… hmm, let’s see……

I scratched my chin as I tried to recall.
But then, when Pochi tried to join in on the conversation, I felt an extremely powerful presence in the vicinity.

“W-what?!”

It took me a second to realize that it was a great mass of hostile arcane energy exuding extreme killing intent.

Pochi, even with her power level to go toe-to-toe against SS ranked monsters, was now shaking like crazy.

At this time, Ricky had already gigantified, Barun already had his blade ready, and Betty was already activating all her special skills.

What’s this…? I’m feeling an overwhelmingly oppressive aura – it reeks of impending doom and death.

“That’s… the Heavenly Beast…?”

I’m not seeing anything from here, but I’m really FEELING it.

All of us kept ourselves on high alert as we looked deeper into the ravine.

Nothing in the span of two-hundred meters ahead.
Yet.

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“Guys, maybe we should turn back,” I started to say, but that moment, an intense gust of wind blew me down onto the ground.

“”Gah…?!””

“Kyah!”

Uh… I think I’m hearing my bones breaking.

The sense of confusion preceded the pain, and then the following pain further worsened that confusion.

Everyone else was still standing up.
However, the wind pressure, streaming down at us from directly above like a hammer, pinned them to the ground and disabled the movement of all their limbs.

“”……””

Several seconds later, everyone just up and lost their consciousness.

T-this is BAD! We’re gonna be wiped out… I need to stand up! And get my staff… and cast a recovery spell… AHH!!

“…Agh, AHHHHHHH!! MOVE, DAMMIT! C’MON!!”

I had gone through that crazy, limb-breaking movement training under Tūs! I should have been able to do this!

…But my limbs aside, my spine was now a mess, and so were most of my muscles, and some of my internal organs were hit, too.

Hurry… I gotta hurry!

Move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move!!

Get up! Heal! Help everyone! Run! Just run! And live! Damn it, Asley! Stand up, YOU FOOL!

When I thought that, my body suddenly released all the arcane energy it could possibly handle, all at once.

Then, when I felt that I could actually move, I shouted with all my might at the Torrent Dragon Staff,

“High Cure Adjust!!”

HELL YEAH!!

…But even though the magic healed up everyone’s wounds, it’s not waking them up! Damn it!

I forced my trembling, barely-functioning legs toward the person closest to me – who happened to be Betty – so that I might haul her over my shoulder and bail her out.

“…”

“Ngh-!!”

I felt as if my heart – as in the organ itself – was being squeezed.

I heard ‘breathing’ from behind me.

But there was no one there.
I’m a mage – the formation’s rear guard.
There SHOULD be no one there.

As for my feet… Although they were supposed to guide me toward Betty, an overwhelming stream of murderous intent swept over them… forcing me to turn around.

Index