Chapter 73: The Story of the Battlemage and the Slave Elf
by fnovelpia
“…..? Isn’t that more like a hamster than a rat? It’s kind of cute.”
Yeah, it does look like a hamster.
Grey fur all over, with a black stripe running across its face.
Big, round eyes, and a constantly twitching nose.
Honestly, to Kain, it looks disgusting.
It even squeaks sometimes.
And the weird beastman riding it with a spear?
That’s even more unsettling.
“A giant rat! Cute, my ass!”
It’s the perfect thing to hate.
“Well, at least the bear doesn’t look too bad, right?”
“There’s a bipedal creature riding on that animal! And they’re both twice the size of normal animals!”
“Why are you getting so mad? Do you really think those cute things are a threat to us?”
Kain felt frustrated.
The elf, who had experienced both male and female lives and was now his slave, seemed to have an obsession with anything cute.
It was ridiculous.
How could that be considered cute?
Even if it looked like a hamster, the fact that it was huge meant it wasn’t a normal rat or bear.
And it was clearly brimming with murderous intent.
“Squeak? Squeak?”
“Squeak! Squeak!”
The creatures, which looked like enemies, were chattering among themselves.
They must be beings from the saint’s world.
That would explain it.
“Grrraaaaah!”
The beastman soldiers riding rats and bears charged at Battle Mage from all directions.
“What’s wrong with these lunatics? Elf, summon your spirit!”
“You want me to attack those cute creatures?”
“What, you want to just sit there and get hit instead?”
“Well, no…”
After some back-and-forth, the elf summoned Sylph, and in an instant, the rats were blown away.
But this was their territory.
It wasn’t just the creatures riding animals.
Above them, giant monkeys swung from vines and began throwing spears.
They didn’t look particularly strong, but the spears were sharp enough to kill.
It seemed like the entire forest was a trap.
On the ground were beastmen riding giant animals, and above, small monsters threw spears from the trees as they moved between them.
It was absurd.
“These bugs are throwing spears at Battle Mage?”
Despite her appearance, she was a renowned battle mage.
She wasn’t someone who would lose to mere pests like these.
Kain swung her spear, deflecting the small spears raining down from the sky.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“This is just ridiculous.”
There’s a limit to how much you can underestimate someone.
Did they really think a few hundred spears would make a difference?
“Wow, it looks like a circus show.”
“Shut up with your nonsense. Aren’t you going to fight?”
“What? Shouldn’t a woman be more ladylike?”
“Ladylike? Seriously? You’re a slave who owes 1 billion and ended up as the saint’s servant. Who are you talking to about being ladylike?”
“Oh, come on. Were you ladylike when you secretly had a kid while being married?”
“Why do you keep bringing up the past? Shouldn’t we focus on what to do now? Is this the time to fight?”
She always acts like this when things aren’t in her favor.
“Just a moment ago, you were talking about how cute the animals were, and now you’re saying it’s time to fight?”
“I didn’t expect them to attack like this.”
Well, yeah.
They may look cute, but seeing them attack with killing intent leaves no choice.
“Fine, whatever. This is nothing to worry about.”
They might not be directly involved with these creatures, but people are mistaken about one thing.
People think returnees are freeloaders living off public funds.
“Returnees just didn’t want to get involved with the hunter society because it’s a hassle.”
Returnees aren’t weak.
In fact, most of them were either talented individuals or had gained significant strength in the worlds they lived in.
There’s no way they would lose to mere animals like these.
Kain’s spear began to glow with a brilliant light.
“A mere beast trying to face a battle mage? Talking about throwing spears?”
Kain thrust her spear forward.
A massive beam of light erupted from her spear, sweeping through the enemies in front of her.
BOOM! CRACK!
Even the massive trees that towered over them were nothing in the face of her power.
“Squeeeaaak!”
“Ch-chirp!”
The beastmen and giant hamsters were swept away, unable to react in time to Kain’s single attack.
“Wow, that was strong. You’ve done something almost as big as the saint herself, huh?”
“Not quite. Don’t compare me to her.”
The saint was undoubtedly strong—unbelievably so.
Kain wasn’t sure if she could win in a fight against her.
This technique was meant to sweep away enemies in front of her, but it didn’t have the short casting time or the ability to be used consecutively like the saint’s attacks.
Still, after one thrust, nearly every enemy within her line of sight was wiped out, so in a way, it covered a broader area than the saint’s attacks.
Yeah, if there was a boss at the end of this terrain…
Boom!
“Strong enough to defeat that boss.”
“Grrrrr.”
It seemed like something hit it, but it didn’t die.
“Uh… something huge is coming this way.”
Looking closely, it was a giant lion with a highway-like scar running from its forehead down the top of its head.
To be exact, it was a lion beastman.
Its enormous muscular body was bigger than the combined size of several adult men.
Of course, if you only consider size, there are beings larger than this, but the atmosphere around this giant lion beastman was especially terrifying.
“Its mane is gone. That definitely looks like a boss, right?”
“Yeah, I think so. Wow, right in the middle. But it looks like it dodged it.”
Judging by its direction, it seemed to have narrowly avoided instant death by ducking its head at the last moment.
However, the highway running down the middle of its head significantly reduced the once-fearless value of its majestic mane.
It looked ridiculous because of it.
“I can smell something.”
The giant lion sniffed around.
If most of the ones they’d killed so far looked like ordinary foot soldiers, this one was clearly something else.
No doubt, it looked powerful.
“But… doesn’t that look familiar?”
“Oh, I know! It looks like the lion mascot from that cereal… Corn something, right?”
Kain burst out laughing at the elf’s comment.
It did bear a slight resemblance, considering it was a giant lion beastman.
That lion could totally star in a commercial.
But wait, wasn’t that cereal discontinued after the Great Cataclysm?
They started making more cereal varieties for hunters, didn’t they?
“Well, here it comes.”
“Oh, that’s true.”
Of course, the highway on top of his head is still an issue.
“I smell it! Her! I smell her scent!”
“What’s he saying?”
He’s trying to say something intensely.
“Growl. Roar. Kyaaaa!”
To Kain, it seemed like the large lion was just crying out.
“Oh, I can interpret that.” “Even a grub knows how to roll.”
Even a grub rolling is a skill. The elf, suddenly upset, pouted.
“Hah! I’m much better than that brat who had his wife stolen. A grub? Really?”
When the saint speaks, that Young girl seems way more impressive.
The way she exacts revenge on people who bullied her by ‘messing around’ shows she’s much more cunning.
Apparently, the more emotional she gets, the stronger her powers become.
Can this elf, who relies on spirits, even compare?
“Alright, fine. I’ll translate it.”
“Grrrr, grrr.”
The elf started translating the lion’s growls.
“How dare you blow off my glorious mane!”
“Grrrrr.”
“Next.”
It just sounded like crying, but the elf kept translating.
“Looks like Pingchaeng has a death wish!”
Huh?
What?
Pingchaeng?
Did it really say Pingchaeng?
“Did it really say Pingchaeng?”
“Uh… yeah, I think so.”
It definitely seemed like something the elf just made up, but Kain decided to let it slide.
She had no intention of giving this lion any room to breathe.
The plan was to finish it off quickly and get out of this sticky place.
“Tell it to kneel and beg for mercy before I turn it into a trophy.”
Kain had faced demon lords before—there was no way she would lose to some lion who had no idea who it was messing with.
“ROOAAAR!”
“Especially Pingchaeng! You smell like her.”
Her?
Who’s her?
“Her? Who’s her?”
“That barbaric fake saint who carries around a mace.”
“Wait, hold on. That’s your master, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
What exactly had that saint done to make everyone hate her so much?
Then again, if they were part of the Demon King’s army, it made sense.
If they were enemies of the saint, then they must be part of the Demon King’s forces.
“So, that lion is connected to the saint too?”
“Seems like it.”
“Why?”
“The saint was the problem last time, too. Wait… hold on—”
There was something Kain had been wondering about, but with all the chaos and bad weather, she hadn’t had a chance to ask until now.
Kain turned to the elf, Elena.
“Where’s the last member of our team?”
“Flying up there.”
The elf pointed to the sky.
Oh, now Kain could see.
That sneaky bat was flying around by herself.
A bat-winged creature flying around alone in an indecent outfit—just looking at it made one embarrassed to be associated.
Still, it could at least serve as a fighter or a meat shield.
That creature was flying around, trying to survive on its own.
“Is that damn brat flying around alone?”
Kain, keeping a wary eye on the lion, almost threw her spear at the succubus, who descended tearfully.
“But I hate this weather too!”
“If you don’t come down right now, I’ll turn you into bat kebab!”
“What did I do? It’s not like I have a lisp or anything…”
“Are you saying we’re short too?”
Come to think of it, why didn’t I stop the saint when she suddenly divided us into teams with ridiculous challenges like ‘tongue touching the nose’?
The saint can be so manipulative at times, forcing people into absurd situations where they can’t refuse.
If enemies like this lion had been manipulated by someone like her, it wouldn’t be surprising.
“ROOOOAR!”
“Why is a succubus siding with humans?!”
The lion’s translated rage continued, and this time, its target was the succubus.
It wasn’t even looking at Kain and the others, staring instead at the succubus like she was a traitor.
“Well, I couldn’t very well side with the scar-headed lion, could I?”
The succubus awkwardly waved her hand.
After all, she wasn’t even under the same demon lord, technically speaking.
They came from different worlds, and besides, that highway running down the lion’s head was just too much to take seriously.
“RAAAAAAWR!”
Understanding the succubus’ words only made the Lion King angrier.
“He says, ‘I’ll cleanse you in place of your demon lord!’”
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