Ch.69Finding a Friend Three Hundred Yards Away (3)

“Oh, it’s moving! It’s moving!”

Breaking news: David and Kalon have been resurrected.

“How long has it been since I had a physical body!”

“The sensation of moving limbs feels strange. Perhaps because this isn’t a human body.”

The voices coming from the golems’ vocal cords were quite different from the voices of the two people I knew. But everything else—their tone and speech patterns—was exactly the same. That’s how I knew. These were definitely my senior and junior…

“Ooooh!”

“Weeeeng!”

They’ve gone crazy.

“It’s a miracle to have died once and come back to life. Of course, I can’t really call this being resurrected, but still.”

“Hey, is this a dream or reality? Erich! Let me hug you once!”

“Commander, how can I hug you with this body? Do you want Erich to die too?”

“Then how about we hug each other?”

“Senior.”

“Junior.”

“I’ve admired you for a long time, senior.”

The two dinosaurs embraced each other in a ridiculous scene. A sight I might see once in a lifetime.

“W-what’s going on here?”

“These are my comrades.”

“Comrades? Then those stones you’ve been showing all this time…”

“You didn’t believe me?”

“It’s not something believable!”

“I suppose you might have thought it was a deception strategy since I’m your enemy.”

“No! It’s not because you’re an enemy! How could anyone think someone talking to stones is normal? I thought you were mentally ill!”

“But I was right, wasn’t I?”

The Holy Maiden’s eyes turned deep pink. I let out a hollow laugh. It wasn’t just because the Holy Maiden was cute or because my two comrades in dinosaur bodies looked ridiculous.

My head feels dizzy. I feel like I might faint.

Something feels like it’s squeezing my heart.

“…Mage, are you crying?”

“What?”

The Holy Maiden made a soft nasal sound.

“If you want to cry, go ahead. But not now. Only cry when I’m around. It would be embarrassing to shed tears in front of everyone, wouldn’t it?”

You’re the most embarrassing one here and you don’t even realize it.

I twisted my lips. Anyway, it was time for introductions.

“At your service! Former Commander of the 269th Magic Stone Management Battalion of Hazkhail Magic Kingdom, Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Kalon!”

“Subordinate squad Magic Stone Officer, First Lieutenant David Kanichi!”

The two saluted, flailing their short arms.

“We were originally a Major and Second Lieutenant, but we got promoted after dying.”

“If we die again here, do we become Colonel and Captain?”

“Well, I don’t want to die twice.”

The Holy Maiden, who had been staring blankly, burst into laughter. She returned their salute.

“Colonel Tiria Kasten of Ascalia. This is Major Rachel Brokenheart, and this is Sergeant Riyo. Since my two friends don’t speak the Magic Kingdom language well yet, I’ll introduce them.”

Officers from enemy countries greeting each other. An impossible scene under normal circumstances.

Especially the Holy Maiden. When I first met her, it was incredibly difficult to even speak to her. She would frown at the mere mention of magic.

Thinking about it now, so much has changed. And it’s only been about four months.

“Thank you for treating our Major well despite being enemies.”

“No, given the circumstances…”

“It’s more than just circumstances. Do you know what the Major told us about you? He said the Holy Maiden is cute.”

“Huh?”

The Holy Maiden’s gaze turned toward me. Her eyes were as empty as a deep well. The emotion coming from that well was shame.

The Holy Maiden’s eyes turned pink. She seemed embarrassed by David’s sudden bomb of a statement. Ah, damn it. Why did he have to say such nonsense… I’ll deal with him later.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat.

“This isn’t the time. If we delay, more monsters might gather. If we’re going to move, let’s move quickly.”

“Ah, what about food and water?”

“We’re short. But if we go back, we’ll be even shorter. Now is actually when we have the most supplies.”

The enemy must be aware of our presence by now. So…

“A short battle would be advantageous.”

Quick resolution.

Before they realize that David and Kalon have become our golem allies, we’ll take the leader’s head.

We decided to advance. It was unanimous.

“Erich, ride on my back with the beastkin lady.”

“Senior, ride on my back with the Holy Maiden.”

“…?”

“…?”

The two golems knocked each other’s heads.

“Beastkin lady.”

“Holy Maiden.”

What’s with these guys?

“Senior, David. No need to worry unnecessarily. The situation is urgent. Besides, it’s already decided who rides with whom.”

I extended my hand to the Valkyrie.

“Take it.”

“Ah.”

“What?”

“No, it’s just…”

The Valkyrie shook her head vigorously.

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

The Valkyrie’s hand met mine. She carefully interlocked our fingers.

“Tch.”

“Tsk.”

What was that sound just now?

“Let’s go then.”

“Hold on tight.”

There’s no saddle or reins. The best way to avoid falling is to support each other well. For that reason, I held the Valkyrie tightly from behind.

Thud-thud-thud!

The two golems broke through the bushes. They burned through blocked areas with flamethrowers and easily trampled small monsters that blocked their path.

From what I could see, it was about 300 meters to the stone tower.

I’ll defeat the leader there and finally find out for certain what’s happening in this place.

***

Boom!

The stone tower shook. Ledoff, who had been handling magic stones, came out of the laboratory. Stone fragments were falling from the ceiling like hail.

[“What’s happening!”]

[“Urgent report! Intruders!”]

[“Speak sense! What intruders!”]

[“It’s those humans!”]

[“What? They’re here? Did they fly through the sky or something!”]

Ledoff stuck his head outside the stone tower.

[“Damn it.”]

The thorny bushes had been reduced to ruins.

[“What’s the current situation?”]

[“The first and second floors have been breached. The enemy is on the third floor. They’re attempting to enter the fourth floor, but Lord Siskemuss is fighting back.”]

[“Are they that strong?”]

Just then, a fire lizard came running in a panic.

[“Reporting! The two large golems we released in the southern direction have been taken by the enemy!”]

[“Don’t talk nonsense.”]

His voice came out calmly because he was so dumbfounded.

[“No one can break through my defensive magic circles. Do you know how long it takes from disabling to resetting? If there were a magician capable of doing that in a short time, they would have caught my eye long ago.”]

[“But it’s true! Lord Siskemuss has just been killed! Ugh!”]

The fire lizard collapsed and fainted. Its tail had been cut off. Another messenger whispered.

[“Could it be that the magician was hiding his power?”]

[“Didn’t yesterday’s report say his magical power was tiny?”]

[“That’s why he was hiding even that magical power.”]

[“Ah, so you’re saying you reported falsely without proper investigation?”]

[“Gasp.”]

[“You there. Behead this one immediately.”]

[“Brigade Commander, please spare me! Please spare me!”]

The lizard was dragged away. A small rattlesnake slithered in to take its place.

[“Tsk, tsk, this, is, why, four-legged, creatures…”]

[“Do you also want to be executed for treason?”]

[“Gasp.”]

The white snake wriggled and twisted its body.

[“You seem to have come from the lower floors. Report the situation.”]

[“Um, well, we’re doomed.”]

[“…”]

[“Those golems, being stolen, it’s true. The magician’s ability is, beyond imagination, so strong that, lower monsters like us, simply cannot do anything…”]

[“Enough, that will do.”]

Boom.

The ground shook once more. The snake passed out and flipped over. It stuck out its tongue and played dead. Ledoff spoke calmly.

[“Tell everyone on the fourth floor to gather and go up to the lower floors. I’ll gather my equipment and move too.”]

[“What? Go up?”]

[“Did you not hear me?”]

[“Y-yes, sir!”]

The white snake slithered away. Ledoff headed to the laboratory. He pulled out all the magic stones embedded in the dummy golems. They had been suffering from experiments for a long time.

[‘Cough, Olivia!’]

[‘Haa, haa!’]

[‘Olivia, are you okay? Olivia!’]

[‘I-I’m fine. But Daisy, you first…’]

Olivia, Daisy. Names as common as field flowers. But lately, they were particularly impressive test subjects for Ledoff.

[“You’re the first to last over four months. I salute your mental strength.”]

[‘You, you piece of garbage! I’ll never forgive you!’]

[‘When we get out of here… we’ll definitely kill you.’]

Ledoff twisted his lips.

[“All talk and no strength.”]

Crackle! He gripped the magic stones tightly. Flames rose from his fingertips. Daisy and Olivia screamed as if they were being burned. Elegant-colored mana writhed up Ledoff’s wrist.

Ledoff headed to the deepest part of the laboratory. He lifted the curtain there and took out the golems from the innermost area. Two scorpions designed for attack and self-destruction revealed themselves.

[“Rejoice, inferior creatures. You will soon be freed from pain.”]