Vs. “Dawn Mercenaries”
“Eh, what’s wrong?”
I instinctively caught Glinda as she collapsed, instantly dead without even a gasp. The three men of the “Dawn Mercenaries” turned their attention to me as I spoke.
“What is it? What happened?”
“Hey, hey, Glinda, aren’t you getting a little too excited…”
Still off guard, Duncan, the scout, approached with a dumbfounded look.
“——!?”
The moment our eyes met, Duncan showed instant tension, seeing something in my eyes. I shoved Glinda’s corpse away.
“What!?”
At this point, no one thought Glinda was dead. Duncan instinctively caught the pushed Glinda. I immediately drew my Black Knife and swung it back.
“——【Double Edge】——”
“Guoh!?”
Duncan twisted his body to evade my Dagger Arts, still holding the warm Glinda.
However, although the first strike of the double attack was dodged, perhaps unconsciously trying to protect Glinda, his right arm, which took the second blow, was severely slashed.
…I failed to finish him off. They really are skilled.
He noticed something from looking into my eyes, but to enter combat just from killing one target… I still need more training.
“What! What’s going on!?”
“Duncan! What about Glinda!?”
“Glinda’s not moving! That brat is the enemy!”
The members of the Dawn Mercenaries were confused but heard Duncan’s words and prepared for battle.
At that moment, I threw my Knife at Duncan. Dagart, the leader, immediately intervened, using his Greatsword to deflect the Knife.
“Duncan, use a Potion to heal Glinda and yourself!”
Dagart, holding his sword to protect the two, raised his voice.
But I know. The healer of this party is Glinda, the Magician.
Randy, the shield, can also use some Light Magic, but like a typical Adventurer, he should only be able to use 【Cure】.
And most of the Cure Potions sold are recovery-oriented Potions with weak healing effects, so even if they can close the wound, they won’t fully restore the function of a deeply wounded arm.
My plan was to defeat Duncan and seize the expansion bag where the Potions would be stored, but things don’t always go as planned.
I sighed lightly, flicked the blood off my Knife with a light swing, and provocatively turned my palm up and beckoned with my fingertips.
“……You!!!”
Randy was enraged by my obvious provocation.
“Stop, Randy! There’s ‘something’ wrong with that kid!”
Duncan stopped Randy while holding his deeply wounded right arm.
Duncan was wary of me after taking the attack. Dagart, as the leader of the party, chose to protect the injured to calmly regroup.
But Randy, forgetting himself because his comrade was hurt, ignored his comrades’ restraint and drew his sword, charging towards me.
This is the disadvantage of a ‘party’ that I believe in.
The Adventurer’s Guild recommends parties instead of solo because comrades can cover each other’s weaknesses, make the most of their strengths, and increase their survival rate.
However, Adventurers are largely divided into two types: the ‘manager’ type, who considers the overall benefit of the party and can make ruthless decisions if necessary, and the ‘craftsman’ type, who is only dedicated to fulfilling their role.
I’m not saying craftsmen are bad. But Randy, who has only been engaged in the task of ‘shield’ in a party from the beginning, has difficulty demonstrating his abilities when he leaves his ‘role’.
“I won’t let you escape!!”
Randy chased after me as I ran into the depths of the Dungeon.
“Randy!!”
Dagart’s voice couldn’t reach him. In this case, the best course of action would be to treat the injured and then have everyone follow, or choose to retreat.
Randy would normally have chosen that. But Randy didn’t choose that. That’s where the first ‘trap’ I set comes into play.
“Don’t think you can escape with a Combat Power of only 200!!”
When I entered this Dungeon, my Combat Power was at most around 240.
The Combat Power visible through Appraisal has slight differences depending on the individual’s detection ability, so I never mention the exact number. Because of that, Glinda called my Combat Power ‘around 200’, and Randy, with a Combat Power of 440, thought I was only half as strong as him.
But now that my Dark Magic level has increased and the Mana pathways flowing through my body have increased, my Body Enhancement and Martial Arts have also increased, and my current Combat Power is not inferior to Duncan or Randy.
Still, I won’t let my guard down.
My 【Dagger Arts】 are still only at level 2, perhaps because of my physique, and in the first place, it’s difficult to damage Randy’s full body armor with a Dagger specialized in cutting skin and flesh.
While sensing Randy’s presence chasing me, I loaded an arrow into the gauntlet’s gimmick.
This gimmick was made by Gelf, who installed parts of the miniature Crossbow I received from my master.
The Crossbow, which my master, a Magician, used for close-quarters combat, uses Trent wood with a Mithril core and a Flying Dragon tendon for the string, so even with an arrow loaded, it regenerates with the user’s Mana, and the string never stretches.
There’s also a gimmick that allows loading with one hand, making it easier to use than throwing Knives in close combat.
“I’ve caught up!”
If I take too much time, Dagart will catch up. Judging that this distance was the best, I moved about 30 meters and slowed down. Randy, a mass of steel, charged at me.
“——【Phantom Pain】——”
“Gugyah!!!”
Randy stopped moving, letting out a crushed poison frog-like groan from the intense pain of the illusion I cast.
If the ranks are the same, the illusion will definitely work, but even so, the pain should have little effect on Randy, who has been a shield. But Randy, who thought I was inferior, probably never imagined he would receive such intense pain.
“Goh!?”
Not missing that moment, I used my level 3 【Martial Arts】 and 【Body Enhancement】 to jump into his chest, using a palm strike from below to strike Randy’s chin, and deeply stabbed my Knife from his exposed throat towards the top of his head.
The shield demonstrates its power with the support of its comrades. The heavy armor and shield are suitable for receiving heavy blows, but there are too many disadvantages to fighting alone.
“——”
Randy’s eyeballs rolled back, showing the whites, and before his muscles stiffened, I pulled out my Knife, leaping over Randy as he fell backwards, and ran towards Dagart and Duncan.
Two left.
“That guy’s back!”
“What about Randy!?”
“I saw him fall, but I don’t know!”
When I returned to the original place, Glinda’s corpse was laid down in the passage. Duncan, who found me approaching, lowered his injured right arm and held a Dagger in his left hand.
Dagart held his Greatsword to protect Duncan, but he held out his palm to me as I tried to approach.
“Wait! You, you’re the noble’s pursuer! Do you know what those guys had?”
“……”
Dagart shouted at me as I returned. Since I had already made them prepare for battle anyway, I stopped. Dagart slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
“You seem to be listening… Those guys had the forbidden ‘Spirit Tears’. It’s a Spirit Magic Stone, and possession is prohibited by the Holy Church of Fundoria Theocracy.”
“……What does that have to do with anything?”
The Water Spirit I defeated didn’t drop one, but even Spirits, which are spiritual life forms, sometimes drop Magic Stones if they have existed for a long time.
As a Magic Stone, it has strong attributes, but more than that, because of its jewel-like beauty, there was a time when people deliberately summoned and killed Spirits to obtain Magic Stones, my master said.
Spirits are important beings that maintain the nature of this world. The Holy Church did not allow items that hunted Spirits for desire.
“Don’t you understand? I don’t know what you heard and why you attacked us, but the criminals are those nobles! If there’s justice in your actions, take my hand!”
“Dagart!?”
Duncan gave Dagart a disapproving look for suddenly trying to bring me, the enemy, in.
“That guy killed Glinda! And Randy too…”
“Face reality, Duncan. Originally, we ended up antagonizing the nobles because Glinda selfishly brought the ‘Spirit Tears’. We have a strong comrade.”
“……Tch, I understand.”
Duncan reluctantly nodded, having been persuaded that stealing the Spirit Tears was merely Glinda’s whim. He turned to me, protectively cradling his unmoving right arm as he approached.
“…I think I can gauge your abilities without using an Appraisal Orb. If you were simply deceived by the nobles, I want you to hear us out.”
“…Understood.”
As I gave a small nod, Duncan offered a slight smile, sheathing his weapon and extending his left hand as if to shake.
“Then, first of all—”
Clang!!
In that instant, Duncan’s knife, hidden in his right hand, clashed against the blade of my Black Knife, sending sparks flying.
“Tch!”
Using Duncan as a shield to evade Dagart’s attack, who had charged in at that moment, I suppressed the knife in his injured and weakened right hand with my own. Closing in until we were almost touching, I fired a crossbow bolt into Duncan’s mouth.
“Duncan!”
I rolled away to dodge the greatsword being swung down, creating distance as Dagart caught the collapsing, convulsing Duncan, his face twisted with rage.
“You… how did you realize?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
In the first place, I heard that the noble who commissioned the job requested the Assassin Guild because the relics were items that couldn’t be shown publicly.
Besides, the request was for the recovery of the relics and the disposal of the thief, so no matter what reasons they had, I never intended to listen to the thief’s nonsense from the start.
And while ordinary commoners who rarely see plays might have been deceived, to me, with the “knowledge” of that woman, it looked like nothing more than a third-rate farce.
As for Duncan, I knew that if he had used a high-grade Cure Potion for an injury like that, his right arm wouldn’t be in such an unusable state.
“It would have been difficult to finish off Duncan while protecting you. I appreciate you letting me get close while my combat ability was lowered.”
“Y-you bastarddddddddddddd!!”
Feeling mocked by my honest thanks, Dagart threw Duncan’s lifeless body aside as if discarding it, and let out an angry scream.
One more person.
Next time: Combat with Dagart, a Rank 4 warrior.
How will Aria fight against opponents like Viro and Sera?