Chapter 245 : The King of Magical Beasts

"...That's all."

The duke, sitting across from me, looked at me as if I were a madman.

"Ah, don't look at me like that. It's not like I did it. How was I supposed to predict what those madmen would do?"

Then, the duke looked at me as if I were the leader of the madmen.

...I had nothing to say to that.

"...So."

The duke finally opened his mouth after a long time.

His tone was one of carefully organizing what he had heard.

"You, Ashuban, went north to the mountain range."

"Yes."

"An A-rank magical beast."

"Jaw-Dropper."

"...Right. You defeated Jaw-Dropper and then broke through the encirclement of the swarming magical beasts to return."

I nodded.

"It was a rough journey."

The duke's gray eyes stared at me blankly.

"So it seems."

"Since we were surrounded anyway, we just broke through."

"I heard Sir Monde accompanied you."

"He's a brave man. He didn't fall behind. He was the one who cut off Jaw-Dropper's head."

The duke brought the glass to his lips and nodded.

"A rare knight. That Lilia wouldn't just have anyone as her guardian knight."

"Is that so?"

"The third princess may not know much else, but her eye for people far surpasses that of an ordinary person."

...Is that so?

For Duke Elsbears to say that.

Come to think of it, even though Sir Monde swaggered around like a back-alley thug and seemed endlessly flippant on the outside, his loyalty to the princess seemed heavy.

"And... the demonic swordsman and the thief went to the northeast forest. And they killed everything they saw."

"Yes."

"Putting you aside. It sounds like those guys went out with the intention of killing."

I humbly admitted it.

"So it seems."

"Did I give you a magical beast subjugation commission?"

"It's fine since they're safe, isn't it?"

The duke sighed.

"...Right. You guys must have your own way."

"That's right."

"Just be careful. To be running around among the magical beasts beyond the barrier like that. Do you have two lives?"

I reassured the duke.

"You don't have to worry. They are guys who cherish their own lives above all else. If the situation is unfavorable, they will retreat even if I tell them not to."

"...That's very reassuring."

The duke tapped the table with his fingertips for a moment, then.

"Right. I understand that."

He looked at me as if I were some strange monster.

"You tortured a magical beast with poison?"

No, why are you looking at me like that?

I told you I didn't do it.

The Heavenly Demon chuckled.

[Aren't you their leader? You are also responsible.]

There was a point to my heavenly master's words.

I sighed and had no choice but to humbly accept the Heavenly Demon's words.

"And an A-rank magical beast at that? What in the world is this?"

His rather confused voice represented his feelings.

Even the king of the north, the steadfast guardian of the northern wall, the master of the Turquoise Sword, Duke Giyer Elsbears, could not hide his astonishment.

In a way, hadn't they achieved an unprecedented feat?

Schmidt and Linda could go around bragging about this.

"Sigh... about that."

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

I was aware that Linda could do strange things. Because she was a strange girl.

But I was also at a loss because I hadn't thought that Schmidt would gladly support Linda's strange behavior.

'Even you, Schmidt...'

I explained step by step.

"Schmidt and Linda headed to the northwest plains. They also encountered an A-rank magical beast there."

"I understand that much."

"Linda weakened it with poison, and then Schmidt beat it up."

The duke stroked his bushy, gray beard, which was like a lion's mane, and asked.

"Is Linda a new member?"

"Yes."

"I heard about her performance in the first wave. That she killed magical beasts with poison."

"That's right."

"But, is there a poison that can weaken an A-rank magical beast?"

"She said she had intended to kill it, but it only ended up being weakened."

"Hah..."

The duke was at a loss for words for a moment.

"Just weakening it is amazing."

"I know. It's just that our Linda is a bit greedy."

"Hmm."

"So, in her frustration, she collected its blood and started manufacturing, developing, and researching poison on the spot. Since there was a suitable test subject, she also tested the poison on the magical beast in the process to see if it worked well."

"...And the magical beast just stood there?"

"They made it stay still. Schmidt said he barely kept it alive. It seems he beat it evenly and ground its bones to dust. What a ruthless fellow."

"..."

So, they beat it to an inch of its life to immobilize it, and then continued to inject it with poison until it died.

How was this not torture?

To think that I would see the day when I felt sorry for a magical beast.

The duke stroked his eyebrows for a moment, then asked.

"So, what was the result?"

"I'm not sure, but it seems she wasn't very satisfied. Linda was sulking the whole time."

"Hmm."

"It seems she will continue the torture."

"Continue?"

"Yes. If she really develops a poison that can kill or further weaken an A-rank magical beast, wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"...That's true, but."

The duke sighed.

"It's hard to say. Are they all like that?"

"That's probably why Guston gave up everything and ran away to that mountain village."

"...That makes sense."

I gathered the three A-rank magic stones I had shown as proof of defeating Jaw-Dropper and the other A-rank magical beasts and finished up.

"So, the result of the first day of reconnaissance. We found 3 A-rank magical beasts and 53 B-rank magical beasts. Among them, we killed three A-rank magical beasts and 41 B-rank magical beasts."

"...I'll say it again, the commission I gave you was for reconnaissance, not subjugation."

"Yes."

"You can take it a little easier. You don't have to catch them, reconnaissance alone is enough."

"Take it easy. I will keep that in mind."

"Of course, it was a good thing to kill them since they would have rushed to the barrier if left alone. But what's more important right now is reconnaissance. There's no need to overdo it. If someone gets injured or doesn't return, it will be an irreversible loss for both Sherwood and Tundra. Understood?"

"Yes."

Gulp—

Was he craving a drink?

The duke filled his glass to the brim.

"Ah, by any chance."

"What is it?"

"For the record, I can also name the other two A-rank magical beasts."

The duke stared at me.

"Was Jaw-Dropper your work? Or Sir Monde's?"

"It was my work."

"We'll take care of it here."

"Yes."

I watched the duke gulp down his glass.

The duke wiped his beard, which was reddish from the wine, with the back of his hand and looked at me.

"Anyway, you worked hard. Were there any other noteworthy things to report?"

"..."

On the first day of reconnaissance, we had found 3 A-rank magical beasts and over 50 B-rank magical beasts.

The situation was not good.

"There is."

"Speak."

I explained to the king of the north the strange situation where the small-fry magical beasts were not fighting each other.

Why were these guys, who usually just charged in, not fighting each other for some reason?

As if someone had ordered them not to fight.

"It's as if... there's something above them."

"...Above?"

"Yes. As if their king is reigning over them."

"A king."

The duke's eyebrow twitched.

The gray lion looked at me with his deep gray eyes.

"Even if dozens of A-rank magical beasts come rushing in. The knights and I can somehow block them. The damage will be immense, but we can somehow block them. The north is not a generous place that embraces those who are not strong."

I listened silently.

"But. As you can guess, there is a situation we are most concerned about."

"Yes."

"The king of magical beasts... are you referring to an S-rank magical beast?"

I answered honestly.

"It's just a possibility."

"Hmm."

The duke let out a low hum.

S-rank.

The weight of those words was different.

It had to be different.

The moment an S-rank magical beast really appeared.

The crisis, which had felt somewhat superficial, would become a reality and come striding toward us.

Magical beast ranks are divided according to the degree of damage a magical beast can cause.

It's not a very strict standard, but it's roughly divided that way for convenience.

F-rank are magical beasts that cause no particular harm to people.

E-rank are guys that at most dig up crops.

A magical beast that a normal adult man can kill on his own.

D-rank are guys that mess around in villages.

A magical beast that several adult men, or a mercenary with a Copper Badge, can kill on their own.

From C-rank, it's hard for ordinary people to handle.

A professional has to step in. A knight or a mercenary.

A magical beast that a mercenary with a Silver Badge can kill on their own.

B-rank are terrifying guys that can single-handedly devastate a village.

They can be dealt with by several mercenaries with Silver Badges, or by a single mercenary with a Gold Badge.

A-rank can destroy a city.

Even that Hydra I saw before, if I hadn't stepped in, it would have broken through the wall and entered the city. It would have created a scene of carnage.

Can a single magical beast really destroy a city? Does that make sense?

There was a time when I thought that.

But after facing one myself, I realized that it was entirely possible.

That's how terrifying A-rank magical beasts are.

They can be dealt with by several Gold-rank mercenaries, and only a mercenary with a Platinum Badge can face one alone.

S-rank magical beasts... are guys known to have the power to destroy a country.

Terrifying monsters that are no different from natural disasters.

Legendary magical beasts that only appear in fairy tales.

A national-level disaster.

A walking natural disaster.

The Eight-Bladed Masters of the magical beast world.

In summary, an S-rank magical beast is a monster among monsters that can only be dealt with by gathering several renowned Platinum-rank individuals.

No, even that cannot be guaranteed.

The moment an S-rank really appears, the crisis of national destruction, which had felt somewhat distant and abstract, becomes a reality.

It's a terrible thing to even think about.

I want to deny reality, saying it's impossible.

But no matter how much I shout that it can't be, reality is just cruel.

What will happen will happen, regardless of our will or thoughts.

Because that's the world.

Then what should we do?

We can't just stand by, denying reality.

If a leader were such a pathetic person, I would slap them.

A leader must face the problems that everyone wants to turn away from.

They must come up with countermeasures.

I looked at the leader of the north.

"But if an S-rank magical beast really appears. What are you going to do?"

Do you have a plan?

The duke answered.

His steadfast gray eyes did not waver.

"The moment you discover an S-rank magical beast during reconnaissance."

"Yes."

"You guys must first return to the barrier as quickly as possible and report the news. Your safe return is the top priority. Because we need the owners of the Platinum Badges to kill an S-rank magical beast."

"I'm listening."

"And, we must somehow prevent the S-rank magical beast from approaching the barrier."

"Why is that?"

The duke explained.

"The significance of Tundra is to protect the Maia Kingdom from the magical beasts coming down from the north. It's a kind of large defensive shield. And that defensive shield is the barrier."

"Hmm."

"The barrier is the key. Protecting the barrier is the top priority. If the barrier falls, everything falls. It will be uncontrollable. It's the end. The magical beasts will cross the barrier and invade Maia."

"..."

"We cannot risk the barrier collapsing. Therefore, if an S-rank appears, we will have to go out to meet it."

It was a very dangerous thing.

Not even fighting at the barrier, but having to fight in the middle of the white hell where magical beasts were pouring out, in their territory.

I looked at the duke.

"If one appears."

The duke nodded heavily.

"If one appears."

I felt like I could see the heavy burden pressing down on his shoulders.

Was this the kind of heart he had been protecting the barrier with, day in and day out?

"..."

I decided to share a little of the burden on his shoulders.

And my shoulders became heavy as well.

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