Chapter 12 Strongest Sage, Hit Upon a Good Idea

 

Biffgel who's forced the poor populace to accompany him triumphantly walks toward the forest behind a villager with the best physique while the other villagers are surrounding him.
My brother Reich is on the farthest back.
I wonder if he's an insurance for Biffgel to push the responsibility on when it looks like he can't accomplish the feat.

I follow behind them from about 20 meter away.
It's quite close for tailing incognito, but I've got plenty of magic on my sleeves for this, as long as the other party doesn't use a counter magic.

My aim is of course, assassinating Biffgel--I mean, protecting the participants besides Biffgel.
If as a result, the unfortunate Biffgel dies by coincidence, that is of no concern to me. You reap what you sow.

"And, where's this monster again?"

Biffgel asked one of the people.

"It's in the forest depth."

"Depth, that means.... Where?"

You went on an expedition without knowing that huh....

"We have no idea where it is right now. The monster was sighted quite a while ago, so it might have moved somewhere...."

"Tch, you're useless. --Well fine. We should find it if we just walk around. Let's go guys!"

What a sloppy plan!
Just how vast does Biffgel think this forest is.

If they're just walking around randomly, they might even spend a week without meeting the monster if they're unlucky.
How long will I have to continue to tag along.... was what I thought while following them.

--Two hours later.

"Biffgel-sama. How about we split into groups."

One of the people suggested that, probably because they couldn't find any trace of the monster.
Good job populace!
....However.

"Are you stupid! There's no way we'd do that!"

Biffgel objected.

"What would you do if anything happened to me!"

If anything happened to Biffgel.... er, celebrate?
With that reply, the people can't possibly oppose him, thus the plan comes to a standstill.

"No need for that, my instinct will find it! We're going there next! Move it!"

In the end, it's instinct huh.
It's bad since that instinct is actually right on the money.
I don't know if it's some kind of coincidence, but the place Biffgel and the others are heading to is the same place the monster is also heading to.
Since we've gotten closer, I've grasped the type of the monster a bit.
It's probably a bear or a tiger, a quadrupedal animal that has turned into a monster.

It has a small body for a monster, but that doesn't mean that this monster is weak.
Rather, it's the opposite. If the mana reaction of a monster is big, the smaller their body, the higher their mana density is, and the stronger they are in battle.
Judging from the scale of this mana reaction, we have the worst case scenario here. I'm not sure if even our father Castor could beat it in a one-on-one fight.

After dozens of minute, the subjugation corps arrive before the monster.
They'd enter the monster's field of vision in 10 seconds.
I took some distance away from the subjugation corps when I saw them getting closer to the monster and put myself beside the bear.

The problem is from here.
Since Biffgel gathered the people, the will inevitably fight the monsters first.
I could prevent victims from appearing if I help and defeat the monster myself, but then Biffgel would remain conceited, I could see him saying things like, "He snatched a game that even I could beat." Dealing with things afterward would be more troublesome than defeating the monster itself.

However, I also can't let unrelated people falling victims just because of it.
What should I do, while I was taking the wait and see approach, the situation changed.
Toward one that is most convenient for me.

"That's my game! You guys don't get in my way!"

When Biffgel saw the monster, he stepped forward while ignoring his escort. What's even the point of gathering people then.
Of course the monster has noticed Biffgel after all the clamor.
The bear monster which was showing its back turned around and started to run toward Biffgel.
Facing the monster, Biffgel thrusts his sword forward and begins to shout out some incomprehensible line.

"Fire mana that dwells in my body, become a straight arrow and pierce my enemy!"

Biffgel's mana reacted along with the recited line, and then 'pohyu', with that small sound, a fire arrow flew toward the bear.
The bear runs straight to Biffgel, not even trying to evade the fire arrow.

And then the fire arrow made a direct hit on the bear's eye.... and vanished.
The bear is absolutely flawless, no damage.

Was that.... magic? But it was extremely crude, or rather, poor. No matter how resistant a monster to magic is, there is no way a proper magic that hit one of their weak points, the eye, would leave it undamaged.

The power is bad and all, the conversion efficiency is also weird. The mana that was collected on his hand was diminutive, but nevertheless, it should have been capable of demonstrating power several times higher than that.
To begin with, what was the weird line he recited at the start for?

"Wha...."

"Biffgel-sama's.... Glory Crest magic doesn't work!?"

"That thing isn't a normal monster! It's a Zenith Monster!"

The subjugation corps were astonished to see what had happened.
Apparently, from their perspective, the fact that Biffgel's magic (?) didn't work was devastating. There were even some who fell into panic and ran toward meaningless directions.

Biffgel was seemingly the one surprised the most, he was hit by the bear's claw when he couldn't move, getting blown away several meter away.
Among the people who froze over, the only one who had a semblance of proper judgment, my brother Reich blocked the claw with his sword.

"We're withdrawing! I'll hold it off here! Everyone quickly escape!"

However, their strengths are too far apart.
Reich's sword got pushed back in a blink of an eye. He wouldn't last three seconds at this rate.
....Well three seconds are quite enough though.

I activated one of provocation magic, 【Enforced Detection】 before Reich's sword got pushed away.
Although it may differs by individuals, most monsters use 【Passive Detection】 unconsciously.

【Enforced Detection】 is a magic that pour mana on those monsters to make your mana reaction look big to them.
If it's too weak, they'd ignore it, if it's too big, they'd run away, it's difficult to adjust this magic in a way--but it seems to be a success.
Right after I activated 【Enforced Detection】, the bear monster separated its hand from Reich and ran at full speed toward me.

"Mathi, why are you here! Run away quick!"

Ignoring the shouting Reich, I knead my mana.
Approximately four seconds before the monster arrives. Way more than enough time.

I put both my hands before my chest and concentrate the mana in my body.
I grant directionality to the collected mana while also changing its pressure.
And then I ward off the monster's arm with martial art and hit its heart as we pass each other.

As one would expect, it wasn't enough to defeat the monster, but--its movement dulled, which was enough.
I drew the sword I brought from home and cut its neck with a single stroke under Physical Reinforcement and 【Mana Strike】.

"Mathi! Leave this to me.... Huh?"

Reich who chased the monster showed a dumbfounded expression on his face when he saw its fallen body.
Right at that time, I noticed the current situation.

Blocked by the vegetations, the other people in the subjugation corps can't see anything but Reich, they haven't noticed that the monster has been killed. Looking at their panicked state, there's probably no one who would notice a slightly awkward act here.

Perhaps this is.... a chance isn't it.
I'll push the feat on him!

























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