The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“Shah-! Sha! Sha!”

Okay, this is getting weird…

All of a sudden, Polco started attacking us with his staff.

“Whoa-?!”

Pochi leaped forward to dodge Polco’s swing.

“Aaahhhhhh?!”

“C-could he be… aiming at us for real, sir?!”

“It’s like you said earlier, Shiro… this guy’s OUT FOR BLOOD!”

“But he wasn’t releasing this kind of arcane energy when I first saw him! Just look at his red eyes and sharp teeth – isn’t it like he’s turned into a monster?!”

“Stop being rude to one of the Nation’s leaders, dammit! And besides, the cause of all this is running ahead of us! He’ll be back to normal if we can just get Ferris back! Maybe!”

“Right!”

Pochi replied and rushed ahead toward… Jetta… huh?

Okay, so she’s the head maid… but is a maid even supposed to be THAT fast?

Fast enough to outrun Polco? That’s ridiculous.

…Wait, no, the gap is getting shorter and shorter. She’s still pretty damn fast though.

Well, Pochi would catch up instantly if she were to go all out, though.

“…Hmph! STOP!”

Pochi made two well-timed hops, landing in front of Jetta.

At the same time, Jetta also jumped, flipping in the air to dodge Pochi’s landing and open some distance.

“Hohoho, impressive. I’ve never thought you would catch up to me, Mister Poer…”

“Thanks for the compli-“

“-I’M the one who caught up with you, ma’am!”

Okay, she’s right in her correction, but good God, she’s as inappropriately carefree as ever.

Anyway… Jetta is clearly a lot larger than she used to be. From her shoulder-width to her feet, the difference from before must be a whopping fifty percent.

This new look totally eliminates all impressions of her being an old lady. Now the maid outfit doesn’t suit her. At all.

If I were to guess, it could be a form-altering application of invisibility techniques. I’ve seen it in some older literature, but never knew that this sort of application was possible.

“…So, have you been infiltrating the Fulbrights this entire time?”

“Naw, that ain’t it, dawg.”

What in the blazes?!

“M-M-M-Master?! Did her voice just… turn ROUGH all of a sudden?!”

“Yeah, that’s clearly just a dude in disguise. His transformation technique must have been able to alter his vocal cords as well – that’s impressive… Okay, so? What did you mean by what you just said?”

“When Bright came here, the woman named Jetta was already dead, that’s what.”

So he’s been fooling us for almost a year.

Should be safe to assume that Jetta 2.0 started his infiltration around the time Chiquiata failed to kidnap young Bright, then.

Wait, no, calling him ‘Jetta’ isn’t right. So what could his name – oh, right, Appraisal Glasses…

――――――――――――――――――――

NAME: Mu’myou

TITLES: Mage, Martial Artist, SS Slayer, Wind Deity, Dragon Slayer, 

LV: 174

HP: 23,106

MP: 19,230

EXP: 201,794,153

SPECIAL SKILLS: Attack Magic (Advanced), Support Magic (Advanced), Recovery Magic (Advanced), Transform, Blinding Speed, Flight

――――――――――――――――――――

Mu’myou… means ‘nameless’, but at least I can assume from the language of it that he’s from the East, I guess?

…And this might not have happened if I’d just looked at Jetta with the Appraisal Glasses after our arrival here, now that I think about it.

Anyway, we’re definitely up against a formidable foe here. With that muscular body, he might even be more powerful than Chiquiata.

And those thigh muscles are nothing short of amazing. No wonder Polco couldn’t keep up… And now that I mentioned it, how is he doing now?

“AAAHHHHHH?! WHERE ARE YOU, FATHER?!”

Hearing Chappie’s scream, I turned around to see Polco shooting various spells up at the sky… or more precisely, at Chappie and Bright.

Pochi, seeing Chappie fluttering through the air like a thin sheet of parchment, exclaimed,

“Hey, Chappie! Why aren’t you calling ME to help you?!”

Because, despite being his mother figure, you’re still Pochi, doggo.

“Okay… I’ll just leave rescuing Chappie to you, Shiro.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying, Master?! Master Polco is scary as all hell now – of course I’m not gonna fight him!”

“Then how about that big guy with all the heavy makeup?”

“That one’s scary, too!”

“But thou must choose.”

“Ngh… what a difficult time we live in, sir!”

For the best results, I think it should be me against Mu’myou, and Pochi against Polco, though…

…Hmm, let’s try proposing one of my ideas first.

“Just think about it, Shiro. If you’re fighting Master Polco, you’ll have Master Bright and Chappie backing you up – it’s three against one, you know?”

“Oh?”

“And it’s your big chance to show off to Chappie, right?”

“OH?!”

“AND if Master Bright appreciates your efforts, he might treat you to a heap of delicious food, yeah?”

“OOOHHH!!”

I grinned at Pochi, trying to convince her. 

Okay, even I can tell how weird my face is right now, but whatever… Pochi’s DEFINITELY interested – just look at how her ears are standing right up.

“Look, if you’re THAT interested, then you might as well-“

“-You there, with the red eyes! I’m in a good mood right now, so give me just a full-course meat meal, and I’ll let you off the hook!”

Pochi faced Polco, raising her front legs and rolling up her sleeves… figuratively, of course. She doesn’t wear shirts.

…Even from behind, I can tell that all she’s seeing now is all the meat she thinks she’ll get to eat for dinner, and nothing else.

“Now then… let’s get down to business.”

“Oh? You, alone against me? With that baby in your shirt?”

Now I’m just a generic ‘you,’ huh?

And to think he-she just referred to me as ‘Mister Poer’ just moments ago…

Not that I’d like to be called that same way by that burly-man voice, though.

“And you’re carrying Lady Ferris on your shoulder. Isn’t that way bigger of a disadvantage, Mu’myou?”

“…I knew you’d be the biggest trouble from that house.”

Mu’myou, his eyes containing a subtle hint of surprise to hearing his own name, put Ferris down on the ground and assumed a fighting stance.

So he’s a close-combat mage, huh? He’s not carrying a staff, so his Circle drawings should be telegraphed quite clearly.

Let’s do this, then…

“Now you’re sticking your precious staff in the ground… What the hell?”

“Jussst making a special seat for Leole here.”

I hooked the baby carrier to my staff and reinforced it with arcane energy.

“Da-ah?”

“That’s right, I’ll be showing off some super cool stuff! Keep your eyes peeled and cheer me on, Leole!”

“Ayie!”

The same instant as Leon’s last reply, Mu’myou dashed with blinding speed, getting himself behind me.

Then he threw a punch… which I deflected with a roundhouse kick.

Mu’myou had his stance broken, but I kept on kicking.

“Ngh- gah!”

Mu’myou leaped backward, dodging my kicks. He put his hands on the ground as he landed.

Should be setting up a fixed-position type Spell Circle, right? Oh, wait, it’s a Craft Circle.

I transitioned from my kicks to a jump, with one foot raised high, I drop-kicked down onto the Craft Circle.

“DAAAHHHHHH!!”

The Craft Circle shattered along with the earth, with Mu’myou narrowly avoiding the impact by rolling away.

“Shit! Aren’t you supposed to be a mage?!”

“I TOTALLY am a mage, yes!”

“…What?!”

I covered the scattered dirt and pebbles with arcane energy, formed them into a solid clump, and sent it flying toward Mu’myou with my palm strike.

“Gah!”

The clump successfully hit Mu’myou on his abdomen, knocking him up into the air.

“Damn you-!”

He maneuvered his body in the air, adjusting his posture and throwing a small knife at me.

I did an extremely quick spin, deflecting the knife with my mantle.

“What the hell, you a martial artist or what?!”

“…You know, I don’t know how I did that, either…”

I just couldn’t help but grumble this to him, what with the ‘Holy Warrior’-type title having so strong of an effect.

It’s improved not only my ability to manipulate arcane energy, but also my physical performance.

Right now, I feel like I might even pull off the Deca Spell in its full potential – all ten spells in the highest rank.

…Right, that will give me quite a bit more brute force.

“Hai-yah!”

Exerting pressure onto all of my body, I tackled forward, aiming at where Mu’myou is set to land.

Then, after grabbing him and holding him in place, I pushed him toward a nearby rock.

“OOOHHHHHH!!”

“This guy’s… strong as hell!”

“It’s called the power of MUSCLE!”

“That’s just ridiculo- GAH?!”

Mu’myou, his back slammed flat on the rock, let out a cry, as the sound of several bones breaking was heard. Then I drew a Craft Circle on Mu’myou’s back as he collapsed.

“Rise, Sancta Boundary!”

Damn, I can even draw my best Boundary Magecrat this quickly. Amazing…

As a result of his injuries to the Boundary’s restraint, Mu’myou fell unconscious, not getting another word in.

Hmm, perhaps I now have the raw strength to just… overpower enemies of a level similar to mine.

Whoops, no time for that – gotta get young Ferris and save Polco-

“AAAHHHHHH?! MASTERRR!”

“FATHERRRRRR!!”

“Instructorrrrrr!!”

Three screams reached my ears, prompting me to turn to where Polco must be.

And as I’m seeing, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Polco’s arcane energy stream is out of control.

It’s quite… similar to my arcane energy release, actually.

And even though I CAN overwhelm someone on my level, Polco is way more powerful for that…

Things will probably be fine if I work with Pochi, though.

With such carefree thoughts in my mind, I trotted over to Pochi, who was still screaming-

“-Took you long enough! I was super close to beating him just now, sir!”

“More like you looked like you needed help just now…”

“It was an act, sir! An act!”

In that case, my Familiar must have some crazy acting skills, then.

“Anyway, Master… do you have any idea why Master Polco doesn’t head to get Ferris, now that she’s safe?”

“He’s probably lost it and forgotten about his goal by now. Just look at his face… veins swelling all over, he’s more like a monster.”

“But deep down, he must love Ferris a whole lot… So how are we supposed to bring him back to his senses, sir?”

“With these, of course!”

I clenched my fists and raised them up.

“Straightforward and simple! I like it!”

We grinned at each other and proceeded to confront Polco of the Adams household, the Mage recognized by the Holy Warriors.

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