Episode 38: Thunderous Wolf Formula
“They’re back! We’re being pushed back! We can’t hold the Royal Guard-class!”
“Roger!”
Stepping out of the Hakoniwa’s door, I found myself still within the Black Ant nest. There were more enemies than I had anticipated.
“Nun! Nun! Hunnnu!”
Grams was using his Spike Flail to blow away enemies. However, the Royal Guard-class were A-rank Monsters. They couldn’t be defeated with a single blow; even when blown away, they would rise again.
Raise-san and Brenda had only managed to defeat one each. Raise-san, who originally fought in close quarters with her fists, lacked the power to wipe them out, and Brenda was limited to my spare weapons.
“No choice. Part Two, then.”
I retrieved a weapon useful in such chaotic battles from my Spatial Storage. Not wanting to show heavy weaponry to this group, I chose something closer to the current magic system.
“Thunderous Wolf Formula, activate.”
It was a set of thirty talismans. I tore off about five from the sheet and threw them.
The oblong talismans that landed on the ground emitted lightning, forming the shape of bluish-white wolves. They were KIRISIMA-made Familiar talismans. Originally, they were designed to be round balls thrown on the ground, but they were unpopular. When they were redesigned into the shape of talismans, reminiscent of the good old days, they became a boom item, a sad past.
Besides these, the Unified Space Force also adopted the ‘Blue Flame Lion Formula’ and the ‘Ice-Creating Dragon Formula.’ The latter produced fewer entities at once, but they were more powerful than the wolves.
They were consumables, but relatively cheap, and were used when operating on planets with low civilization levels where bringing in heavy weaponry was not feasible.
The ones I used this time were the Thunderous Wolf Formula. Each talisman spawned three wolves, totaling fifteen lightning-clad wolves that attacked the enemies.
“Annihilate them.”
Upon receiving the command, they immediately pounced on the Black Ants. Wolves with power equivalent to S-rank Monsters by this world’s standards ravaged the enemy.
“Whoa, what are these?”
“…That’s some incredible magic.”
“If you can use such amazing magic, why didn’t you use it sooner?”
Brenda, breathless and bleeding heavily, still managed to vent her frustration. Mira-san approached and began casting healing magic on her while pulling her closer.
“These are consumables, and I can’t get them anymore.”
“Ah…”
It was true that I couldn’t get them anymore. But sorry, I have so many it’s laughable.
“They’re strong. Their attack power and speed are greater than mine. Did you summon S-class Monsters?”
“Seriously!?”
Brenda exclaimed in surprise at Grams’ mutter as he watched the wolves begin to defeat the enemies.
“Amazing. More importantly, how are those two?”
“They’re being treated now. They won’t die, at least.”
“Spatial Magic, huh? I never thought there’d be a user so close by.”
I nodded at Mira-san’s words.
“Keep it a secret, okay?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t go around blabbing about it.”
“I understand that, but you can heal? But I thought they were being carried away by something like a Golem…”
“It’s a Spatial Magic called Hakoniwa, a small room that you can freely enter and exit. There are allies inside who are treating them.”
Allies, or rather, Support Drones.
“Nuu, they’re taking down the Royal Guard-class so easily.”
The wolves had mostly defeated the enemies. They sat around me, waiting for the next instruction. Kind of cute.
“…You, guard us. The rest of you, scatter and annihilate the Black Ants. Go wild.”
“Woof!”
They barked energetically and moved according to the instructions. This place was a junction with paths leading in various directions, so they seemed to be acting quite independently.
“Is it okay to be so casual?”
“They’ll disappear after ten minutes.”
They would vanish 600 seconds after activation. It would be a waste not to let them play around.
“You also have storage, right? Let me return your belongings.”
“Storage? Ah, you mean the Spatial Storage.”
Grams took out my belongings from the Magic Bag and handed them to me. I stored them inside the Spatial Storage.
“How convenient.”
“It’s convenient, but also inconvenient.”
“You have to hide it, after all.”
“Is that necessary? ”
“Huh?”
Grams sat down with a thud. Mira-san seemed to be starting treatment.
While taking a break and gulping down water from his canteen, Grams looked at me.
“Claffy is strong. Even without these wolves. There’s no need to hide like a coward.”
“Eh? Is that how it is?”
“…Well, there’s a point to that.”
“That’s right. If you show your strength, no one can say anything.”
“Indeed. He was able to fight the Black Ants without a scratch, so he’s not weak.”
Everyone nodded at Grams’ words.
“That’s different from how I think.”
“What’s the point of hierarchies other than strength? In the end, you can overcome them with power.”
“…That’s extreme.”
“Well, that’s what Adventurers are like. They’re free. If they feel uncomfortable, they can go to another town or country.”
“I’ve actually changed my base many times. There aren’t many users of healing magic.”
“I don’t have that kind of experience, but I know that strength is what you can rely on, you know?”
“But it’s conspicuous.”
“Of course, if you try to stand out, you’ll stand out, but you don’t have any intention of doing that, right? Then the people around you will calm down on their own. It’s convenient, but not everyone is interested in you.”
“If you’re capable, the Guild will protect you. Iserina-sama knows about you, right?”
“Yes, well.”
“Then there’s no problem. The Guild, and the country, won’t treat people with useful abilities badly. Besides, it’s not like there aren’t any Spatial Magic users.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
I heard they were quite rare, and there wasn’t much research material either.
“Well, there aren’t many, but there are a lot of people in the Royal Capital.”
“There are several in the country’s Magic Corps, and there are some in the Adventurer’s Guild too? I’ve heard there are some in the Commerce Guild too.”
“I see.”
“If you can just use magic, it might be dangerous? But if you have as much ability as you do, you can protect yourself, right? There’s no need to be so wary.”
“O-Okay.”
It was a little embarrassing to be praised so directly.
“Hey, it’s fine, but shouldn’t we move soon? I don’t want to stay here too long.”
“That’s right, we’ve roughly understood the strength of the Royal Guard-class. They’re not worth bothering with.”
“Then should we collect the Magic Stones and the Carapaces of the Royal Guard-class? They seem like they’d sell for a good price.”
Saying that, she looked around… Well, I’m sorry.
“There’s hardly any that are still in their original shape. Those wolves are amazing.”
“Let’s at least collect the Magic Stones. Otherwise, Claffy-kun will be completely in the red.”
“I’m sorry for the trouble…”
The Familiars all trace the movements of beasts when they fight, but their power is so high that they often tear the enemies apart.
They’re strong and obedient, but they can’t understand very detailed commands, so they’re not very flexible.