Volume 3, Chapter 37 – The Snake Monster and the Mysterious Swordsman

I cast a light Purification Magic at the snake. Of course, it shouldn’t actually work; it’s just a distraction.

Perhaps annoyed by the irritatingly obvious light of my magic, the creature launches a charge straight at me.

Just as the snake closes in to within about two meters, I conjure a Defense Wall to stop its charge.

“Chris-san! Shizuku-san!”

“Ha!”

“Here I go!”

Chris-san and Shizuku-san rush in to attack.

Chris-san strikes first, aiming for the right eye.

The snake instinctively closes its eye to block Chris-san’s thrust, and a harsh clanging sound rings out—the sound of two hard objects colliding.

Kish-eeeeee!

The snake lets out its first shriek and rears its head.

Chris-san leaps back in that instant, and Shizuku-san takes her place, delivering a flash of her blade across the raised neck before sprinting past.

A different sound—a harsh crunch —echoes.

Looking at the snake’s neck, there is only a small scratch, from which blue blood leaks.

“No way… even Shizuku-san couldn’t cut through it?”

“Nay, it is harder than I anticipated. Oh, that was close.”

Shizuku-san gracefully leaps aside to avoid a slamming tail.

Kish-eeeeee!

The snake shrieks again, its mouth swelling greatly for a moment. In the next instant, it spits a black liquid toward Shizuku-san.

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“Whoa, whoa, whoa-whoa! That was dangerous!”

Dodging nimbly, Shizuku-san returns to our side.

“That was likely poisonous fluid.”

“What a troublesome opponent.”

I agree. To think that an attack from Shizuku-san—who sliced through the hard shell of a Deadly Scorpi—wouldn’t even leave a proper cut!

“U-um! Me too!”

“Lumia-dono, I would like you to look for an opening and aim your arrows at its eyes or mouth.”

“Yes!”

Kish-eeeeee!

Immediately after Lu-chan’s energetic reply, the snake shrieks once more. It takes a deep breath and suddenly exhales a massive cloud of black gas.

“Ah, this is bad! Barrier!”

I cast a Barrier to surround everyone.

“It breathes poison gas too?”

“Truly, it is a nuisance.”

“We can’t get out like this.”

“Why don’t we ask Mashiro to blow it away?”

Lu-chan, that’s a great suggestion.

“Alright, let’s have Mashiro-chan blow it away with wind, and once the gas clears, we’ll attack again just like before.”

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“””Understood!”””

Mashiro-chan creates a gust of wind, blowing the black gas forward. I prepare to cast Purification Magic, but the snake is gone.

“It’s gone? Where is it?”

“Fiene-dono, above you!”

I look up to see the snake descending from the sky, mouth open, spitting poison liquid down at us.

“Eww, gross—no, wait, Barrie—ah, I’m too late!”

CLANG!

The falling snake and its poison are successfully stopped by the Barrier I had used to protect us from the gas.

It was a success, but as if that didn’t matter, the snake coils itself around the Barrier and begins to constrict with all its might.

The Barrier begins to creak with an unpleasant, straining sound.

“Ah, this is bad.”

I pour all my mana into the Barrier, straining to keep it from shattering.

“C-can you cut it from the inside like this?”

“In such a narrow space and without a running start, I cannot wound it.”

“Kuh… is this the end?”

I thought we were out of options, but in the next instant…

KISH-AAAAAAAAAA!

An explosion-like sound deafens us. The snake wrapped around the Barrier is ripped away, and our field of vision opens up.

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As the view clears, I see the snake glaring toward the graves, and a man armed with a sword standing beside them.

He has long, dark-grey hair, black eyes with a hint of red, and ears that are slightly pointed—though not as much as an Elf’s. His skin is a sickly, pale white.

With a sharp gaze and a slender, tall frame, he is an absolute hottie.

“Hmph. I thought some rats had scurried in, but I suppose you served your purpose as mere bait to lure out the snake.”

With that, the man draws his sword. The blade he reveals is a black sword emanating a sinister aura.

Then, moving faster than the eye can follow, he closes the distance to the snake and shreds it to pieces in an instant.

“S-so amazing…”

This is strength on a completely different level. I couldn’t track his movements at all, and the sharpness of his strike was on another level.

I suspect he could probably slice through my Barrier as well.

The man carelessly stabs his sword into a piece of the shredded snake’s corpse, twists it, and skillfully extracts a magic stone. He washes off the clinging blood and flesh with water magic and tucks it into his clothes.

“M-magnificent! You must be a warrior of great renown!”

Shizuku-san calls out to the man.

Uh… is that okay? We don’t know if this guy is an ally yet.

He just called us “rats” and “bait.”

Since he was just muttering to himself in the distance, he probably didn’t realize I heard him, but if Chris-san heard that, she’d definitely be furious.

“What are you lot?”

“I am Mieshiro Shizuku, traveling on a warrior’s pilgrimage. If you would be so kind—”

“Begone. I shall overlook you for now. Consider it a reward for acting as bait to lure the snake.”

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“What?! You mean Fiene-sama and I were bait?!”

Ah, she’s angry. Just as I thought.

“Chris-san, please calm down. Shizuku-san, too.”

I restrain the two of them and step forward, releasing the Barrier.

“Please step back. I’ll handle the talking. Please, absolutely do not interrupt me.”

We definitely wouldn’t win if we fought him, and besides, we have no reason to fight. It would be better to explain the situation and get his cooperation with the Purification.

“Is that wise? Exposing yourself so defenselessly?”

“Thank you for your help. My name is Fiene Argentata.”

“That attire… You are a Saint, aren’t you?”

“Depending on the circumstances, I am called such. However, I have not come here in that capacity. We are here at the request of the Elves of Shiltsa Village to purify the poison swamp that plagues this land.”

“Hm? A request from Elves? And those ears. Which means you are an Elf? No, a Half-Elf? Hmm? No? But that can’t be… Hey, who the hell are you!”

After staring at me and muttering strange things to himself, he still talks to me like this? That’s a bit much.

But I can’t afford to make him angry. If I do, it wouldn’t be surprising if my head and torso said their goodbyes.

“I am Fiene Argentata. Nothing more, nothing less. May I ask your name, swordsman-sama?”

“…Very well. My name is Belood. As you can see, I am of the Demon Race.”

Then, after a short pause, Belood-san asked once more.

“I ask you again. Fiene Argentata, who exactly are you?”