Hero's Coffin Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Mela lightly swung her sword to deal with the approaching monster. Though it looked like she was simply pushing it away, its head flew off with a swish and rolled. It seemed she didn't even need to use holy power.

Noi assisted by slightly moving the trunks of the densely grown trees in the forest. Though he was covered in disguise magic, he seemed to be using existing trees to minimize drawing attention.

And Beatrice...

"Haha, this is fun!"

She was facing the monsters while swinging her staff. That is, she was really using it like a club to beat the monsters. He had jokingly thought she came to strike monsters since she couldn't hit the old men in the imperial palace, but was this really how she fought? Magic (physical)?

He looked at her dazedly and distanced himself a bit more in his heart. It was best not to get too close to someone who was beyond his imagination in every way.

However, this leisure of just watching his companions was gradually becoming precarious. As they went deeper into the forest, the number of monsters appearing doubled, and the demonic energy thickened. Even...

Weeeng– Weeeng–

Monsters in the form of venomous insects appeared. That is, creatures with 'wings' had shown up. He had thought it was the sound of wind, but when he turned around because the sound was louder than expected, he was startled. Black wasp-like creatures came flying with a loud buzzing sound. Their bodies were as big as adult men.

"G-go away!"

"Uwaah!"

The appearance of flying monsters caused confusion. Mercenaries ran around screaming, and naturally, the formation crumbled. Some even fell because the forest floor was generally muddy even where it wasn't swampy.

The holy knights raised their voices in the chaotic situation.

"Don't provoke the monsters unnecessarily!"

"This is why stupid mercenary rabble..."

Samuel shouted with a frown, and other holy knights also clicked their tongues and blamed the panicked mercenaries. But when an insect-type monster flew towards them with a vicious buzzing, Samuel also flinched and stepped aside.

Swish! He tried to subdue it by swinging his sword, but because he missed the vital point, the monster became greatly excited. It charged even more fiercely, and Samuel repeatedly stepped back until he collided with a mercenary behind him. He had been so focused on the monster in front that he hadn't watched his rear.

"Ugh...!"

"Don't get in the way!"

The mercenary staggered and fell because of Samuel, but he got angry instead. He shouted that the mercenary should have dodged, that if he couldn't help, he shouldn't hinder, and then hurriedly gripped his sword again. In that moment, he had lost sight of the venomous insect.

Bzzzzt!

The monster quickly exploited the opening. Just before the stinger was about to shoot into Samuel, whoosh– Haren appeared instantly at his side and blocked it. He stopped the monster's attack with the flat of his blade, and then pushed the sword to fling it far away. It was a naturally flowing series of movements.

Haren turned to Samuel and smiled gently.

"Shouldn't a commander have prepared in advance for variables that could occur during subjugation?"

"W-what...?"

"You were even given a whole day for strategy, was the plan you came up with during that time just a warning to be careful of the swamp and scolding not to be a burden? Is it right to try to take only the rights of a knight without properly fulfilling the duties?"

Samuel flinched at the softly continuing voice. Haren, covered in disguise magic, would appear to others as a man with brown hair and navy blue eyes, with a relatively blurry impression.

He had said he only tweaked it a little, as completely changing his appearance might seem more strange. But even though he had lowered the overall color scheme to adjust it to be ordinary, Haren's beautiful face didn't die down, so Beatrice had added manipulation magic to make others perceive him hazily. His voice had also become lower.

However, perhaps because of the pressure emanating from his tone and behavior, Samuel froze. He couldn't even open his mouth, and only belatedly wrinkled his brow fiercely. As if in reaction to having shrunk back for a moment, Samuel shouted angrily.

"What would a mere mercenary know! Dealing with flying monsters is such a tricky task...!"

Bzzt! Just then, the venomous insect flew in, and Haren swung his sword without even looking at it. With an extremely clean and concise movement, he cut off the monster's wings, making it crash.

"Uh..."

Samuel blankly looked down at the monster convulsing on the ground. Its wings had been cut off very cleanly.

Afterwards, he scrutinized with eyes suspicious of whether Haren might have used a magic-imbued sword, but that sword was an ordinary one bought from the market. A sword far inferior in quality to Samuel's.

Haren smiled gently and soothed him.

"Even a mere mercenary handled it, so a holy knight should do better, right? I believe you were just flustered now."

He watched the scene from afar and shuddered. He got goosebumps. Was this encouragement because they were both holy knights, or was it high-level sarcasm? At least from Samuel's expression, he could tell his pride had been thoroughly shattered.

Samuel, his face completely red, grumbled for a while before whirling around and rejoining the other holy knights. Judging from their whispering among themselves and glancing at Haren, there was a 99.9% chance they were cursing about 'a mere mercenary trying to teach holy knights'.

Oh my, the more they act like this, the more laps they'll have to run on the future stone training ground. Unfortunately, the holy knights didn't stop at backbiting but started to engage in absurd antics.

"Ha! Mere mercenaries couldn't even attempt swordsmanship like this!"

"Only Sidon is capable of such intricate swordsmanship!"

They shouted as if for Haren to hear while defeating monsters with unnecessarily flashy swordsmanship, even those that could be dealt with simply. Stop it, please. It's becoming embarrassing now. He was certain that they looked far more ridiculous now than he had yesterday. Haren just shrugged his shoulders.

Should he say it was fortunate that the holy knights were now tackling the subjugation more enthusiastically than before? He wondered if even this might have been Haren's intention... but it felt a bit ominous. It was often those with pride far exceeding their skills who caused accidents.

"Only devout holy knights can use holy power like this!"

Samuel shouted proudly while enveloping his sword in golden holy power. Other mercenaries marveled with "Wow!" as if seeing holy power for the first time, but he barely held back an "Eugh" sound.

The golden energy was too faint. For him, who had only seen bright light filling his entire vision and radiance pouring down like daylight even in the middle of the night, it was a very trivial sight.

Did this holy knight know in front of whom he was showing off? As he was clicking his tongue inwardly, tsk tsk, Samuel made a big arm movement. He swung his sword with a whoosh as if sending holy power towards the center of the forest and boasted. He was bragging about how strong people could spread energy like this, but Haren sighed strangely.

Kalterik also grumbled quietly from behind.

"That bastard is spreading energy in a forest he hasn't even fully scouted?"

It seemed like a very rash mistake to make in a place where a monster's nest might have formed. Kalterik clicked his tongue, asking how the Nadael branch managed their knights, and Noi also shook his head.

Mela was just walking with an indifferent face when suddenly she turned her head sharply.

"...!"

As her eyes widened, the air rang with a zzzzt–. His skin tingled and an instinctive wariness rose.

[Has a holy knight come.]

The voice coming from the dark part of the forest was very low. It fell ominously as if echoing in a cave and even reverberated strangely. He knew from experience what kind of being could evoke such an unpleasant tension.

A demon.

'Where demonic energy thickens, demons often accompany...'

He had felt an ominous flag from the moment the word 'demon' came up when his companions were talking about participating in the subjugation, but to actually encounter a demon.

But then an even newer, high and sharp voice followed.

[What, a holy knight? A holy knight?!]

The shout full of hostility was clearly the voice of a different individual. Ah, this time there were two demons? While he was endlessly cursing inwardly, something finally flew across the forest swamp.

Bzzt! A demon that had flown in instantly, flapping its dark red wings, looked around with bright red eyes. It covered its face with hands boasting long nails and screamed "Aaah–"

[I'll tear all holy knights to death. I must avenge Lily. The one who harmed Lily must have been a holy knight!]

The appearance of the male demon letting out shrill cries somehow looked familiar. The sharp two horns, blue skin, and red eyes with pitch-black sclera might be characteristics of the demon race, but... the curly pink hair stood out.

That hair color seemed exactly the same as the succubus he had seen on the sky island...

[Ah, Lily. My twin. You appear in my dreams every day asking me to kill 'that guy', so I've come to this land to avenge you.]

...I think I need to run.