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Chapter 79: Grain, Part 1

 

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「Now then…..Guess I should return」

My magical power is almost fully restored. I faced the floor and chanted Teleport. When I got down to the place where Grain and his familiars were a while ago, the area was wet with the water from when Blue Wall melted.

If you look up at the ice tower, Dark Wraith is still floating around in the center of the tower.

Even if it was determined to come out of the deep recesses of the ice tower, it is not going to work. I wonder if it’s comfortable in there?

Oh well, it’s fine, it’s not like I’m going to specifically go near it in order to aggravate it. While using Teleport to dodge and weave around the monsters along the way, I headed for the entrance of Wanaruta City Ruins.

It’s probably going to take considerable amount of time. I called out to Milly via guild message to set up a place to meet.

(Milly, I’m going to return soon)

(………)

……? That’s strange.

There’s no answer.

(Lydia? Claude?)

All three of them didn’t respond to my call.

Did something happen?

I have a really bad feeling.

I ran towards the entrance while having the maximum amount of alertness.

Just in case, I put enhancement magic on myself.

While walking along the intricate wall, I slipped past the crevices of the walls and in the direction of the entrance, I managed to spot a man wearing a white coat.

That is…….Grain!?

Why is that guy here?

Didn’t he already leave?

The figures of Milly and the others are nowhere in sight. Given that they didn’t respond to my call, it may be possible that they couldn’t respond.

(Grain……..!)

It’s his doing, without a doubt.

The disappearance of Milly and others coinciding with the fact that Grain brutally murdered his own familiars repeated within my mind, all the blood in my body boiled in an instant.

My vision became bright red, and I clenched my teeth, chipping them a little.

「Grain!」

I couldn’t bear it an longer and I jumped from the wall, and stood right in front of him.

「Yo, looks like you survived, didn’t cha?」

Grain ridiculed me and I was trembling with anger.

I felt like a blood vessel would pop.

I just barely resisted the urge to immediately fire a spell, and I began to question him.

「…….Where is everyone」

「Relax, I haven’t killed them. I only had them sleep over there」

When I looked at the direction Grain pointed with his thumb, there were the figures of three people face-down, collapsed.

I saw previously that he was able to cast strengthening type magic on his familiars, it would seem that as a dispatched magician, he isn’t limited to these types of reinforcement magic’s but can also use debuff type sleeping magic.

Damn, what are his limits?

This was probably a surprise attack. Though, a Dispatched Magician can’t easily make three people fall asleep. Maybe it is an original Sleep Code or some kind of inherent magic used at the same time.

「Anyways, is there something you need from us? I’m not such a soft-hearted person that won’t say anything after you’ve done this kind of thing…..!」

「What? You’ve got this all wrong. Originally I didn’t even intend to leave you all alive. After all, you did see a lot of bad things that you shouldn’t have seen.」

「Things we shouldn’t have seen? You killing a familiar? You using a boss to kill us? Or how much of a trash you’ve been for doing such things?」

While breaking out into a grin, he looked down on me and I was still throwing out all the words to express my anger towards him.

「In any case, waiting here for you guys was the right choice, although I really didn’t expect that you would survive that ordeal」

「did you miscalculate?」

「Well… I will give you this acknowledgment, Zeph. You are quite the brat. That’s why I let them live」

Grain said that, and pointed his left hand towards the direction of the three sleeping people.

No way, this guy……!

「Don’t you dare move! If you are to display even the slightest bit of resistance, the lives of those three will be gone」

「……You bastard!」

Grain laughed at my face which was warped with anger, and looked like he was having fun looking deep into my heart. and chanted Summon Servant. The familiar, that was born, was a little girl who was black with horns that curved like a goat. It had small, black wings on its back, and served Grain with eyes that contain no feelings.

Aegis Blacktail

Level 1

Magical Power Level 230

When I looked with Scout Scope, I couldn’t believe that her strength was at level 1.

If I were to believe Grain’s words that the magician’s own abilities influence the types of Familiars he or she will summon, this would mean that I am falling behind this guy.

「From now on, I’m going to call you Black」(Grain speaking)

The familiar nodded in agreement to Grain’s words. It probably is indifferent concerning to the name Grain gave it. Which reminds me, I feel like the names of the previously killed Blue and Red, which I checked with Scout Scope, were also different.

「Black, shred that brat with this sword. …..But don’t kill him right away, ok? It’ll be boring, you know?」

Because of the restrictions of being part of the Dispatched Magicians, he cannot harm me directly, is he trying to torment me with a familiar? This guy really is rotten to the depths of his heart. Black took the sword from Grain, and made one shallow cut on me.

「Tch…….!」

Two times, three times, Black kept shallowly cutting the helpless me, and while laughing, Grain looked down on me whose cuts were accumulating.

He asked me if I would dare to counter-attack, but though he carelessly showed that he was having fun, he did not put down his hand that was turned towards Milly and the others, ready to attack the sleeping girls. Blood began to ooze out from the my shredded clothing.

(Sh………it……..!)

The probability of me firing magic here and defeating Grain is very thin.  A rotten Dispatched Magician, if I were to fight that kind of magical strength head-on, then the difference is way above me. Furthermore, he took hostages.

(…….!)

My clothes became tattered from the familiar’s attacks, and a shallow pool of blood kept appearing at my feet. Taking any more damage will be bad! Sink or swim, I have no other choice…..!

In the moment that I concentrated on my right hand, Grain’s hands started releasing magic towards the girls.

「Wha…….!」

When the rising white smoke cleared, I saw a huge empty hole on the side of Milly and the others. It looks like it didn’t hit the three of them.

「Aah, of course, using magic is banned. If you become a master like me, then you can also sense magic……Shall I hit them next time? Oi?」

When Grain said that and gave some kind of order, Black nodded in agreement, and then. She thrust the sword into my right hand.

「Guaaaaaaaa!?」(Zeph)

「Hyahahahaha! Excellent voice, Oi! I, always couldn’t stomach you punks! You kept looking at me as if you could see through me…..Although it’s disappointing that because of the restrictions I can’t kill you, die screaming while you cry at your own uselessness! 」

The feeling of my right hand being gouged.

Shit, however.

I made an opportunity, Claude.

「Yaaaaaaaah!!」(Claude)

A little rapier pierced Grain’s right eye. In Claude’s chest was a concealed Ain.

「What is this fly! Shit! My….eye……what did you doooooooooo!!」

「I’m not a fly! I am! We are!」

A half-crazed Grain faced Ain and fired magic randomly towards the sky, and estimating the timing, I chanted Summon Servant and withdrew Ain. Impulsively firing powerful magic into the empty sky creates a huge chance. There’s no way I could overlook it.

Casting Red Clash and Black Crash at the same time, Pyro Crash buried the familiar of Grain, who was becoming befuddled.

「Don’t think bad of me. If you’re going to bear a grudge, bear it against your master」(Zeph)

I snatched Grain’s sword from the hand of the familiar that was becoming sand, and prepared to attack.

「You bastaarrrrrrddddddd!!」

While Grain’s screams were rising, he released magic in the direction of the three girls.

A powerful burst of flames surrounded the three of them……but.

「Unfortunately, magic won’t work against me. I pretended to be asleep……until Zeph arrived」

「Nice, Claude」

Claude, near the Milly and Lydia, watched Grain, discerning that she couldn’t win by herself alone and decided to pretend to sleep.

When first I talked in the guild message, I couldn’t understand what was being said from too far away, but when I descended and started having a conversation with Grain, I first noticed that Claude was pretending to sleep.

While I was talking to Grain, I worked out a strategic plan with Claude via guild message.

And then, I created an opportunity, and this is how we have arrived at the current situation.

「Magic…..doesn’t work……!?」(Grain)

「Relax, your opponent will be me. Claude will take care of the other two」

「…….I understand!」(Claude)

The two were sleeping deeply. In addition, even though Grain’s personality is shit, it is true that he is strong. I don’t have the flexibility to fight while protecting Milly and the others. And above all.

「Grain, If I don’t defeat you by myself, I won’t feel satisfied! 」

Roaring, magical power burst out of my body covering it in a violent tempest of destructive energy.

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