Act 2-8 - Kopald

Chapter 8 : Kopald

「I’ve sealed its 《Tempest Roar》!」

I shouted to Edda, telling her that I’ve sealed the kobold’s abilities with 《Gluttony’s Edge》.

Though I wanted to keep the secret of 《Demon Eater Sword; Beelzera》 as much as possible, an overly guarded secret might result in the member of our party dying during this venture.

Seeing that our party was literally a semi-permanent party, I could leak the secret of my sword to some extent.

Since investigating about another person’s enchanted weapon was banned by law, Edda was also showing her understanding by not inquiring further about my enchanted sword but, she should be aware about 《Demon Eater Sword; Beelzera》’s power to seal our opponent’s magic or battle art.

「…GYOO!」

The Kobold was waving around its great axe.

I received its attack with 《Demon Eater Sword; Beelzera》’s blade.

I used 《Transcendent Toughness》 to prevent my wrist from getting smashed by the sheer difference between our strength.

「GUH!」

My wrist still hurt like he*ll, and that attack also chipped 《Demon Eater Sword; Beelzera》’s edge.

『Oi, handle me with care will ya! Your sword is this mistress’s other half you know! You’re going to break me if you keep treating my other half roughly like that!』

「My bad, it’s an emergency!」

After parrying such a big swing, I was inside of its great axe’s range.

「《Trick Dove》!」

I fired two Tulpa Doves toward the kobold.

The Kobold couldn’t react fast enough against the Tulpa Doves that came from point blank range, and suffered a direct hit right on its face.

A small explosion created on the kobold’s face when the Tulpa Doves struck its face.

「… GIIII!」

I stepped even further into its chest the moment that explosion robbed the kobold’s field of vision.

This guy has yet to die.

It shoved its small shield onward.

Even if this attempt looked like a reckless attempt, I recalled that one hit from it was enough to kill me.

「Urgh…」

So I stomped hard on the ground, retreated from that place.

Should I use 《Moon Reflection》 to push forward again?

「Your opponent, isn’t just him.」

Edda had rushed toward the kobold from the other direction.

「… GIIII!」

The Kobold took a breath, and then spit it out at once.

「GIHA?!」

But, nothing happened.

It tried to use its 《Tempest Roar》 huh.

The Kobold was clearly confused by it’s failed attemp to activate its battle art.

Edda was leaping high in the air, sending forth a knee strike toward the part of Kobold’s head that was still on fire while stepping on its shoulder to leap even higher, and then she swung her sword as she spun behind the Kobold, and landed beautifully on the ground right behind the Kobold.

「It’s tougher than my expectation.」

The Kobold was about to turn around before its big frame suddenly crumbled down..

It seems Edda used her sword’s blade to smash the kobold’s neckbone.

After confirming the Odo’s light had already leaked out from the kobold’s corpse, I heaved a sigh as I lowered my 《Demon Eater Sword; Beelzera》.

I’ve confirmed with 《Im》 that my level rose from 【Lv:23】 to 【Lv:24】.

「Nice fight, guys. It’s such an awesome fight… how’s your abdomen, Edda?」

Mani asked Edda with a worried look on her face.

「No problem.」

「Then, let Dean handle the bat-」

「Your worry is unnecessary. Asking Narc’s warrior to not fight with this scratch is akin to insult to us. That man over there will be jealous if you keep meddling with other people like that.」

「I-I see… sorry.」

I was bewildered upon seeing Mani’s communication power.

I mean, Edda wasn’t a bad girl but… really…

「Uhm, what about you, Dean? shall we raise my level even higher in this situation?」

「Yeah. seeing that we’ve more manpower, we should be able to raise your level a few more times.」

With this kind of pace, even if reaching 【Lv:30】(Mid-Rank Adventurer) immediately was beyond my wildest dream, it was still within my reach.

「If you think so, then I’m happy for you too.」

Mani was smiling as she raised her hands naturally.

「Thank you.」

I also raised my hand and did a high five with Mani.

When I turned to the side, due to the glare from that direction, I really saw Edda glaring at me and mani.

W-What’s wrong now, you better speak up and say what you want to say, otherwise, I wouldn’t understand what you wanted to say.

「Then, I’ll go to mine the Kopald on the wall over there. This might take a while.」

「All of that is… Kopald?」

I looked at the blue colored wall.

There might be about one person mass in total but… there’s no way we could bring everything back with us.

「Now let me tell you from which part the part called Kopald is starting from until it ends in which part… the part that we’re going to bring back is only the central part with high mana concentration. It’s quite a back breaking job since the surrounding soil is also hardened due to the influence of Kopald.」

Mani was explaining with a delightful tone.

She was full of motivation.

… Well then, though I’m quite reluctant to do this, I began the work to take the kobold’s battle bone.

The kobold’s large frame made this job even more troublesome.

I’m taking out dismantling tools from the pouch that I entrusted to Mani.

「Oi.」

I raised my face since Edda called out to me.

「I-Is something the matter? you want to dismantle this guy? thanks for your offer but, I’m no-」

「I’m not talking about that.」

Such a quick reply.

It’s not like I really want you to dismantle this guy but, at least I want you to feel more worried about having nothing to do…

「Are you really sealing… magic or battle arts? you’ve been making such weird movement even during the battle against Solus but…」

「…………」

「Feel free to not answer that. I just forgot that you guys have this rule about not disclosing your skills. I don’t think I can get used to this rule since Narc’s warriors are used to letting their comrade in arms in on their skills.」

It is most probably because the Narc tribe’s warrior was tied by blood, they rarely change parties.

That might be why she had a hard time understanding the reason for people like Gilbert and Fedor who were backstabbing their comrades.

「… Yes, there’s a Devil’s ego housed in my enchanted sword, I enter the gap of my opponent’s defence, and steal their magic or battle art. This fella will definitely cause an uproar if her existence is known to others.」

Though Mani’s hand was touching the Kopald’s wall fully focusing as if looking for something, turning around as soon as I told Edda about the secret of my sword, and then glared at me with an interested look on her face.

「Are you sure that it’s safe to tell her that secret?」

「Edda has revealed her trump card in the battle against Fedor. It will be unfair if I’m the the only one with a hidden trump card. In addition, you should’ve gotten the gist of my sword’s ability by this point, right?」

I showed the example to Edda in the battle against Solus, in that battle, I stole Solus’ 《Trick Dove》, and used it against Fedor in the battle that happened right after that.

「Moreover, she has firm resolution, so it’ll be easier to leave my back to her. I want to talk to her about something one of these days but, thanks to this situation of mine, I guess I can’t go with another party carelessly. Edda, I have no idea of what you think about me but, please take care of me.」

I offered a handshake to Edda.

Edda just stared at me with a dumbfounded look on her face.

This girl, what’s the meaning of that face.

When I’m wondering what in the world she’s thinking about, she suddenly slapped my hand.

「OUCH!」

「I’ve told you before right? Narc’s woman won’t allow any men to touch their skin, even if he is her family.」

The tip of Edda’s lips was raising a little bit, forming a light smile.

「To make up for that. I’ll be relying on you since I’ve no one to rely on for the time being. As for the matter after that… I’ve yet to think about it.」

Well feel free to rely on us, it doesn’t feel like something that will take decades but… well, let’s leave that matter aside for the time being.

Though I’m not that clear about her feelings, at least I knew that she wasn’t offended by me.

「… But, I guess doing a high five is okay.」

「Is that so? then when you guys hit each others’ hand from before…」

「Can you please do it more gently? you must’ve used your fighting spirit to enhance your hand right?」

I mean, my hand was still in pain from her slap from before.

Just how much power did she use when she did a high five[horizontal version] from before.

Thank god that none of my bones were broken from that.

Natural airhead was scary.

「But, Devil’s ego residing in enchanted weapon… is it?」

Edda was squinting her eyes while whispering those words.

From her gesture and voice, it feels like she knew what kind of weapon my enchanted sword was.

「…Edda?」

「No, it’s nothing. So, the reason you’re entangled with that eerie man in the guild is also related to your enchanted sword?」

The face of that mysterious eerie man with bitter orange colored hair appeared in my mind.

Which means that man had realized… 《Demon Eater Sword; Beelzera》’s true nature too?

「I don’t think so, to be honest, I also have no idea what’s the aim of that man. He just suddenly came and greeted us despite only meeting us for the first time. 」

Come to think of it, he was a strange man indeed.

I felt chill running along my spine just by recalling his gaze.

「Wait a minute… so you saw us back then after all…」

Edda feigned ignorance, looking at the blade of her enchanted sword with flushed red face.

「… I-It’s just your imagination.」