Water Magician

“Hey, Ryo. I’m really tired so … it’s about time to change …”

“Abel, what are you talking about! You can’t be a good swordsman if you make such feeble complaints!”

“No, I think I’m probably already a good swordsman …”

On the first basement floor of the Sanctum, the flow of monsters was still continuing.

The annihilation battle continued in an environment where they could concentrate on just the front with Ryo’s ice wall.

Currently, Abel and Hero Roman were paired up to slash and defeat the monsters with their swords.

“Look at Roman fighting next to you! He keeps slashing without saying a single word of complaint. Roman, are you good to continue?”

“No problem! I can still do it.”

Roman answered Ryo’s question with a smile.

“See! Did you hear that Abel? That is the model answer for swordsmen. Compared to that, Abel these days …”

“No, that’s because Roman is a hero! A hero! A hero is the pinnacle of humankind. It’s irrational to be compared to that.”

While having such a conversation, both Abel and Roman continued to swing their swords without any momentary delay.

“Leaving that aside, it’s going to be midnight. We’ve been fighting for more than twelve hours …”

“It doesn’t seem like it will end, right?”

Abel grumbled and Hero Roman agreed with a bitter smile.

“I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but I heard the 『Great Tidal Bore』 in the City of Rune also lasted for quite a long time this year.”

“That’s right. Normally there would be thousands of monsters but this year it was over 30,000. At that time, it also felt as though it would never end no matter how many we defeated …”

Ryo asked and Abel replied, remembering Rune’s Great Tidal Bore.

Hero Roman was surprised to hear that.

“This happens in other cities as well?”

“Oh, no … it’s true that the surge of monsters is similar but it’s a phenomenon that happens regularly in the City of Rune. There are various means set up to deal with it. But this … Rihya and the High Priest said this is the first time for this so … it can’t be compared to Rune’s Great Tidal Bore.”

Abel politely answered Roman’s question.

Of course, both of them were still fighting.

Abel said one thing or another while he didn’t stop slashing.

Next to him, Hero Roman who continued to slash with him was also impressed.

“Abel, you’re amazing … as expected, a B-rank adventurer …”

“Fufufu, that’s right, that’s right.”

“Roman, it will get to Abel’s head right away so don’t praise him too much. You see, it’s the same as the sign that says ‘Don’t feed!’”

“Who is the same as a wild animal!”

Abel got angry at Ryo’s terrible words.

“I think I’m doing pretty comparable to the Hero who is the pinnacle of humankind.”

Abel said without resting his slashing hand.

However, when he heard Abel’s words, a shadow flashed across Hero Roman’s face.

“The pinnacle of humanity huh …”

“Hey, can’t you see Roman is shocked for being considered comparable with Abel?”

“Why!”

Abel argued against Ryo’s light jab.

“Oh, no, of course not. Since I was born as a 『Hero』, my potential such as physical strength is certainly quite high, but there are still many stronger people … I’m not at the top.”

He said with a bitter smile.

“What? Did you face a terrible defeat?”

“Yes, that’s right …”

“You’re still young so don’t worry about that. You’ll get stronger from now on.”

“Yes … I know but … I painfully experienced how the sword doesn’t work against Magicians at all …”

“Oh, that’s a painful experience for me too.”

Abel said and looked toward Ryo.

Meanwhile, his sword stopped briefly.

“Look, Abel, your hand stopped. Move your hands more than you move your mouth.”

Ryo’s nitpicking fired immediately.

“My sword probably can’t reach anywhere near the self-proclaimed Magician giving out instructions over there.”

Abel said and begins to slash the enemy in front of him again.

“I see.”

Hero Roman glanced at Ryo and replied.

“Hey, when you mentioned how your sword couldn’t reach a Magician, was it the Explosive Blaze Magician?”

Abel asked Hero Roman while moving his hand properly.

“Yes, that’s correct. It didn’t work against Oscar at all. During our first simulated battle, he deployed magical and physical barriers but they were too hard and even this Holy Sword Astarte couldn’t break it.”

“As expected, it was a Fire-Attribute Magician with evil personality. That seems like something he would do!”

Ryo nodded to Roman’s explanation and gave his impression.

“What would you do, Ryo?”

“That’s easy. All I have to do is surround Roman with ice walls. I won’t rely on magical barriers, physical barriers, or anything suspicious.”

“Yeah, they are both equally bad. No, on the contrary, I feel that the ice wall which doesn’t even allow him to attack is even worse!”

“That’s impossible!”

Ryo replied with a ‘No way!?’ graphic novel-like expression.

And Roman laughed loudly.

“Well, Oscar was strong. But it was something else that gave me the shock …”

“What kind of extraordinary being could shock the Hero?”

Abel asked with interest after hearing Roman.

“That person was probably not human. She looked beautiful and spoke but she had horns and a thin tail.”

“Oh … if it had horns and a tail, it wouldn’t be human, but I’ve never heard of a race that looks like that … It didn’t say a race or a name?”

“Before it left, it said ‘My name is 『Leonor』.”

Ryo responded violently to Roman’s words.

“Roman … Did you just say Leonor?”

Roman was surprised at Ryo’s reaction at first, but came up with one possibility.

“Yes, I did. Ryo-san, have you perhaps ever fought Leonor?”

Roman remembered what Leonor said.

Someone 10,000 times stronger than him.

And it flashed to him that it was this Water-Attribute Magician in front of him.

Roman was the Hero.

Since he had little experience, he was still caught unawares in interpersonal combat, but it was no exaggeration to say that his potential was the pinnacle of humankind.

It meant his senses like 『intuition』 and 『insight』 were far superior to ordinary people.

However,『intuition』and 『insight』  are the results of analysis based on 『experiences』 and 『subconscious information』, so it was a fact that there was still room for growth.

“Le-Le-Leonor, I’ve not heard of that name …”

Abel looked at Ryo, who was acting suspicious, with a look of exasperation.

“Ryo, it’s useless to pretend.”

“Ugh …”

Ryo couldn’t argue.

“Honestly, she’s an opponent I don’t want to remember too much of.”

Ryo gave up and admitted that he fought her.

“Leonor said that there was a person 10,000 times stronger than I was, and told me to overcome them. It was probably Ryo-san.”

Meanwhile, Hero Roman said without resting his hands.

“Well aren’t you highly evaluated, Ryo?”

Abel was grinning … but he didn’t rest his hands either.

“I don’t care about her evaluation. I don’t want to fight that again. Rather than that, how did Roman meet her?”

Ryo asked what he was wondering about.

Ryo had to fight because he was pulled into the 『corridor』, but Roman …?

“Actually, there was a ritual to summon the Demon Lord in the Western Countries. We intended to do summon the Demon Lord to defeat him but Leonor appeared.”

“That’s surprising …”

Abel made a stunned voice.

“Leonor’s aim was the tool used in the ritual.”

“Well, the role of the Hero is to defeat the Demon Lord, but it seems that there are various troublesome matters.”

Abel, in turn, sympathized with Roman’s explanation.

“Hey Abel, let me warn you since you have not seen Leonor. You shouldn’t try to attack even if you meet her, okay? Even with all four Crimson Swords members, you’ll be killed instantly.”

“… I see, but what should we do if they attack us?”

“She’ll probably ignore us unless we initiate the attack … What do you think Roman?”

Ryo asked Roman while tilting his head a little.

Ryo sensed that Leonor paid no attention to humans … she gave off the air of such an existence.

It was like how humans paid no attention to the stones on the ground around them.

“I agree. At that time, we thought Leonor was the Demon Lord, so we attacked …”

“Ahh……”

A voice leaked from Ryo and Abel’s mouths at the same time.

“Well … I’m glad Roman didn’t die.”

Ryo commented.

“I feel that the pressure is decreasing considerably.”

Ryo looked and said that the number of monsters was decreasing.

“It does feel that way.”

“I wonder if it is ending?”

Roman and Abel agreed with that opinion.

“Abel, this is when you have to be careful.”

“O-oh, why are you only telling that to me?”

“Roman seems to be alert. But Abel …”

“I’m staying alert too?”

“But Abel is Abel, so I thought it would be better to say it.”

“Yeah, I don’t know but I understand that I’ve been told something unreasonable.”

After having such a conversation, finally nothing came up from the second basement floor.

“Nothing is coming.”

“Abel, would you like to go take a look alone?”

“Why!”

Roman confirmed the situation, Ryo suggested to Abel how to improve the accuracy of the information, and Abel rejected it.

“Abel, that time with Rune’s Great Tidal Bore, the boss came out at the end, right?”

“Yeah. A king and three generals.”

“But this time there isn’t anything …”

“Well, perhaps it isn’t related to a Great Tidal Bore?”

Abel replied.

“Let’s pray that’s the case. Well then, let’s move forward little by little. <Ice Wall release>”

When Ryo chanted, all the ice walls were lifted.

“Wait a minute!”

Abel stopped the two who were about to start walking.

“Why don’t we take a break and drink some water? If we take a rest for about five minutes, we can verify if nothing comes out.”

“That’s true!”

“Abel, you suggested something good!”

“… I feel like I’ve been praised by Ryo, which is unusual.”

After a five-minute break, the group went down, led by the three, and confirmed that there were no other monsters.

Then, on the fifth basement floor, which was the lowest floor, they found something like a blackened fist-sized crystal ball.

“This is … at Rune’s dungeon …”

“Yeah, it looks just like it.”

Ryo said to Abel next to him, and Abel seemed to have the same impression, so he answered immediately.

“High Priest, do you know what this is?”

Abel summoned the High Priest behind him and pointed to the blackened crystal ball.

“No … at least I haven’t seen it in the temple. I’ve never heard of it in legends either.”

“I see.”

Abel and Ryo came to a consensus that it was probably something someone brought in and was the cause of this pseudo-Great Tidal Bore.

Also, the passage leading to the old monastery on the third basement floor had been broken through and the monsters might have traveled through the passage to what is now the Second Training Ground of the Kingdom’s Knights’ Order.

After confirming that, the party decided to exit to the surface for now.

They had been in the basement for more than 12 hours after all.

It wasn’t good for their health.

Just outside the stairs, the secretary of the High Priest was waiting and told them that the outside situation was bad.

After hearing that, Abel, Roman, and Ryo ran out of the Sanctum.

It was … a terrible sight that seemed to be a scene after a war.

The scene with many destroyed things reminded him of a scene from a zombie movie and the smoke rising from all over the city cemented the resemblance further.

“Did the Knights fail to contain them?”

“That’s probably the case.”

Abel replied to Ryo’s mutter.

“Did the boss go over that way?”

“There is a possibility.”

Abel agreed with Ryo’s deduction.

“Everything is Abel’s responsibility.”

“Oh, that’s totally wrong.”

Abel completely denied Ryo’s words.

“To be able to admit your mistakes means that the person has great caliber. I think it’s better to give up and accept it?”

“Yeah, I can’t understand what Ryo is saying.”

Sure enough, Abel completely denied Ryo’s words.

“In the royal capital, roads are laid out in a radial pattern around this Sanctum.”

“Radial …? Well, I don’t know what that means but this is the center.”

It looked to Ryo as if the road extended around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Earth.

“Abel … from the middle to the other side, it looks like there are a lot of monsters only on this road…”

“That’s true … it’s not that there are no monsters on the other roads, but those are pretty insubstantial.”

It was the road that extended northwest from the Sanctum.

“Abel, what’s on this road?”

“Even if you ask what’s on it … it’s just the regular aristocratic town …! Ryo, the Elves’ Autonomous Region is there!”

At that moment, Ryo started running.

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