Act 2: Chapter 20: 《Rosemonde of Extermination》

Act 2: Chapter 20: 《Rosemonde of Extermination》

After accepting the commission and finishing the minimum preparations, such as food, to subjugate Ragnos, we quickly departed towards the forest outside of the city.

I reread the document I got from the adventurer’s guild which had details regarding the commission.

Amongst the information provided was the frequency which the Ragnos appeared at.

Since I wanted to hunt a large number of Ragnos at once, I looked at the places with a high frequency in appearances which was recommended for B-Rank adventurers and above.

「But... this is strange. Pomera has never heard about this kind of 《Monster Parade》 with only one kind of monster appearing at this kind of scale.」

Pomera spoke as she wondered about the situation.

「As if it’s some sort of omen huh?」N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

「Maybe. The adventurer’s guild itself seems to be investigating this matter too.」

On the document that explained the commission details, the guild had also added additional rewards for anyone who could provide vital information regarding the incident.

It seems that the adventurer’s guild wasn’t letting their guard down.

Though my initial impression about this incident is just an increase in numbers of D-rank monsters, the explanation of this commission alerted me that there might be more to this than meets the eyes in this incident.

「... Kanata-san, we’re about to arrive. I can already feel the presence of monsters around us.」

Pomera warned me.

I closed my eyes and sharpened my five senses after I heard her warning.

Sure enough, I felt the same presence as the ones who attacked our caravan before.

It seems that those Ragnos were hiding under the ground.

In addition, I felt another presence, different from the Ragnos approaching in our direction. And that other presence turned out to be a human wearing black overcoat, standing atop of a nearby tree.

I saw metal protectors beneath that person’s overcoat.

Their face was hidden beneath a simple, goat-like mask made of metals and on their back was a cross-shaped metal pole.

That metal road was almost as thick as my clenched fist. A cane as big as that was a rarity.

Braided, orange colored hair was draped down from the side of their mask.

「A... woman?」

Pomera spoke timidly while pointing her cane at the person on top of the tree.

The person with the goat mask jumped down from the top of the tree and landed on the ground.

Cloud of dust fluttered in the air upon her landing due to her sheer weight.

「You guys are too lenient with your surroundings. Go back now, this is a dangerous area.」

The masked person spoke with a muffled voice.

「Philia wants to be useful for Kanata... Philia, should be able to do something about that person over there...」

Philia spoke with a dejected look on her face.

「What the hell is with that brat? Are you looking down on me?」

Rosemonde was walking closer to us as they spoke with irritated tone.

「S-Sorry, we’ll leave this place immediately...」

I bowed to them.

「That person... seems like a sorcerer, right, Kanata-san?」

I tilted my head in confusion upon hearing Pomera’s remark.

「Sor... cerer? What made you think so?」

Sorcerers... I’d heard about them before.

They’re mages who specialize in wide AOE-type spells.

White magic aside, since I’ve pretty much learned all kinds of magic, I should belong to sorcerer-type too.

But, in Rosemonde’s case, they doesn’t look like sorcerer-type mage to me.

Their alias, 《Rosemonde of Annihilation》 did make them look like a sorcerer, but it was still too soon to decide on their combat style with just that alone.

「Let see... Pomera feels that no one but sorcerers would wear that kind of equipment. Though it doesn’t make that person look like a sorcerer-type at glance... those protectors and heavy metal cane seem to be ill-suited for close combat equipment. That mask’s main function might be for protection against shockwaves instead of claws or blades. I think those protectors’ function is mainly to protect the caster from the effects of their own magic.」

「Though you lot look like small fries who can’t even differentiate between mage and sorcerer... that woman over there seems to be quite sharp.」

Rosemonde was laughing as if scorning me.

「... So the reason you wear such heavy equipment is to protect yourself from the aftermath of your own spell? I think such things happen simply because you can’t control your own spell properly. In my opinion, you shouldn’t fight using magic that you have yet to gain complete mastery and focus on lower rank magic which you’ve already gotten used to...」

Though Lunaire had taught me various types of magic, she never told me about reckless tactics such as letting loose an uncontrollable cannon while putting various kinds of protectors on my body.

In the first place, since I’ve got a perfect grasp on all kinds of magic that I could use, I wasn’t afraid of the after-effects of my own magic since I won’t stay inside the AOE of magic that I released, and even if I did, I still have this robe to protect me.

「K-Kanata-san, front, look in front of you...」

Before I realized it, I gave my own opinion for Pomera’s remark about Rosemonde and when I snapped out of it, I felt killing intent emanating from Rosemonde.

E-Eh, did I just... hit the bull’s eyes?

「... Cough, let’s forget about it. My apologies for my ignorance.」

I bowed to Rosemonde while apologizing to her but it was too late.

「HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OF ME! NOW I’M GONNA KICK YOUR AS*ES FOR REAL!」

Rosemonde took the metal cross on their back, and knocked the ground with it.