The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“WHOAAAAA?!”

“AAAHHHHH!!”

“Pochi! Do something about them!”

“You know that’s impossible! I mean, it’s a herd of Grand Centaurs! You know, Rank S monsters?! I’ll die if I go in! You do it yourself!”

We were running like hell, with a herd of half-horse beastman monsters behind us.

Their technical name was ‘Kentauros,’ and it was said that their numbers have been decreasing consistently to the point of near-extinction now… but here they are. They’ve got to be SOMEWHERE, I suppose.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m the last line of defense! I just can’t go fight on the front!”

“So much for ‘defense’ when you’re running away like this!”

“Shut up! Even ten lives wouldn’t be enough to take them! Uh, so… how much of them are there?!”

“You’re asking me?! I can’t even turn around! Should be around twenty, from what I’ve seen at first, though! And more importantly…!”

“What?!”

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE WE ARE?!”

We were out on a grass-covered plain, and were being chased by a herd of Grand Centaurs.

Pochi’s voice echoed far and wide, but I sure as hell couldn’t answer her now.

We definitely had gone into the place that marked my beginning… our old home, the Dungeon in which we’d lived for centuries. And as expected, we had encountered a great number of monsters, though none nearly as dangerous as the ones at the entrance.

Soooo… how did we pop up at a grassy plain, and what’s the deal with these Grand Centaurs, when we were deep under the Dungeon just a while ago?

Oh, right… it probably happened when I’d entered the back most room, the one I’d formerly used as a research lab…

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“We’re finally here.”

“Yes, we’ve checked all the rooms except this one.”

“I don’t see monsters around anymore, so… wait, there’s nothing here?”

“What about that pile of garbage, sir?”

What Pochi was pointing at was what I’d left behind, untouched since we’d abandoned the place years ago. Outdated documents, old alchemical tools, those sorts of things.

Better follow Pochi’s advice and not ignore anything… even these useless stuff, I guess.

“Rise, Whirlwind.”

I lifted up the whole pile with magic, revealing the earth underneath it.

“…Nope, nothing.”

“Could that have really been just a dream?”

“No way. I mean, we both took part in it. Is it normally even possible for two people to share one?”

“Yes, it is. We did a few times, actually.”

“…Huh, I guess stuff’s gotta happen sometime, what with us having lived together for 800 years… -?!

What’s this?!”

“I can feel it, too! Magic invocation! What in the world is going on, sir?!”

Pochi said, her ears twitching up. As usual for this kind of situation, we had our backs against each other’s.

I didn’t feel anything coming at us from the room’s entrance. In fact, the whole Dungeon must be empty aside from me and Pochi by now.

What I did feel, however, was the activation of a spell, but I still couldn’t tell where it actually was.

Without warning, the pressure of arcane energy closed in on us, sending cold sweat running down my back, and prompting Pochi to ready her fangs. An intense blast of sound blared through the whole room – no, the whole Dungeon.

Like a cracking, high-pitched scream, the sound threatened to rupture my eardrums. And it was gradually getting closer to us.

“A trap?!”

“No, there shouldn’t be anything like that! I mean, we’ve checked every corner of every room! There isn’t anything here, either!”

“You must’ve overlooked something! Once a fool, always a fool!”

“As if! Huh… wha-?!”

A Spell Circle suddenly appeared, as if parts of it had seeped out of the floors, walls, and ceiling, and then combined to form a whole. What the blazes?!

“What’s with this Circle, sir?! It’s got so much data, I can’t decode it! I mean, the letters are so small…”

“Yeah, I can’t read it either! I don’t even have enough arcane energy to start up something this detailed!”

“W-W-W-W-WHAT?! If YOUR energy isn’t enough to use it… then who can?!”

“Hell if I know! But yeah, looks like this thing’s a trap after all!”

“See, I knew you’d overlooked something! You damned fool!”

“Do you have any idea how big this Circle is?! It could cover the whole Dungeon for all we know! No one would’ve noticed it if they didn’t break open the walls!”

“How does one even draw a Spell Circle inside a wall, anyway?!”

Once Pochi finished her line, she realized what was up. And so did I.

“”Ah.””

Who was the one who had led us here?

The topic had been first brought up by Warren, yes, but the one who’d solidified my decision was ‘Gramps’.

So, that Gramps… what did he claim to be?

A Divine Messenger. Yes, that was it. So chances were, he was the one who’d set this up… or perhaps an existence above him… oh, God.

“Wha – now it’s invoking itself?!”

Arcane energy gathered at a point, streaking forth from the Spell Circle and wrapping us in a sphere.

“Pochi!”

“Master!”

Hand in… front paw, we screamed.

Hit by a flash of light, so bright that I couldn’t even see Pochi right in front of me, I lost consciousness.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“…D-did we lose them?”

“Maybe, sir…”

When we’d come to, we were in the middle of some unknown grassland, and then, immediately after I successfully woke Pochi up, those monsters had come charging at us.

We eventually got ourselves into a forest, and fortunately, it had rock formations for us to hide behind as we moved along, quietly and with suppressed breathing.

But then-

“GIAHHHHH!!”

My body immediately cramped up. It was on reflex, without any deliberate reaction on my part. The roar instilled fear such that I thought my guts were being blown out.

Pochi and I could only jump at each other, belittled by the pressure that assaulted us from the skies above.

I couldn’t even raise my face – only feebly rolled my eyeballs up in an attempt to see what was up there.

“M-Master… th-th-that…”

“Wow… it’s… breathtaking…”

We were witnessing an exceedingly strange phenomenon.

Its gargantuan size, and the majestic figure of its flight, was sure to instill fear in all who looked upon it. If the Grand Centaurs were still here, they surely would run away with their tails between their legs – in fact, it was far stronger than an Ogre King.

It was an exceedingly dangerous monster, the golden-scaled serpentine Dragon… Kiryu. Technically a variant of the Heavenly Beast Kohryu, this monster was said to be the peak of Rank SS power.

But why… why did it look so bloody and full of wounds, descending like it was on the verge of death?!

The Kiryu landed, sending tremors through the earth. It looked briefly in our direction, seeming to have noticed us, but soon glared up at the sky instead. That was… the direction it’d just descended from?

Which could mean… no, this was definitely right – way over there… was someone who reduced the Kiryu to this state?

I wish I could go get a real good look at them, but… our lives were still at stake. No way in hell we were staying around here just to satisfy my curiosity.

I started to retreat, one step back at a time, and Pochi was already clinging to my back.

Some Familiar this stupid dog is, using her Master as a human shield…

Well, can’t blame her for how scary this thing we’re up against is, I suppose.

I took another step… and then another. All right, looking good. Once the Kiryu’s figure disappeared behind the tree, I instantly turned around and hightailed it out of there. I didn’t even care about the direction I was going in – it was all survival instinct, running away until I was out of breath again.

On the way, Pochi struck by buttocks… like she was directing a horse. I sure wished I could tell her to run by herself. Oh, I wish I had enough breath to spare for that.

“Hah hah hah… whew! W-why the hell are the monsters around here so damn strong?!”

“You can say that again! All the monsters I’ve seen on the way here were all at least on Rank A, sir!”

While catching my breath, I surveyed the location we’d ended up in.

“Good thing we’re safe for now, but this cave feels off… it’s not a nest or anything like that, right?”

In response to my remark of worry, Pochi sniffed around the area.

“…No. I don’t smell any monster, or even a beast. But-“

“But what?”

As if to rush the conversation ahead, my answer instead came in the form of an imposing figure, approaching from deeper within the cave.

That’s… a person?!

“Who are you?”

There – they were probably what Pochi had tried to inform me of.

Though the voice was androgynous, the feature of the person’s silhouette was feminine. I knew I couldn’t let my guard down just because of that, however.

Practically hearing the extent of her battle experience echoing from her footsteps, I put myself on high alert, but then I felt another presence approaching from the cave entrance behind me. No, to be precise, that other someone was already behind me before I’d realized it.

The one behind me pointed a blade at my throat, prompting Pochi to freeze up as well. It seemed that she hadn’t noticed anything happening at all.

I dropped my staff and raised both my hands, and Pochi followed suit. It seemed that they’d like to know who we are, and to ascertain whether or not we were a threat, so I wouldn’t want to provoke them.

The person behind me, while tapping the tip of his blade on me, whispered in my ear,

“Answer the question.”

That sounded like a young man.

But at any rate, I have to do as he said… or else he’ll kill me. That much, I could tell.

“-Um, I’m-“

“I am Shiro! And this is my Master, Poer!”

Pochi’s alias for me – which she’d come up with on the spur of the moment, I’m sure – was a name I’d heard before.

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